The Venerable House of Le-Fay
by Apparuerit Diabolo et Loqui
Summary: Athena Potter has the door to politics opened to her on her eleven birthday when she is given the title of Lady Le-Fay. She however does not like what she finds in the murky waters of politics and devotes her time to bringing it down; creating a third size to the wizarding war. Fem!HP/GW, Femslash, Slytherin!HP&GW, MOB!Dumbledore, will be rated M down the track.
1. The Goddess of War and Wisdom

**I'm rewriting large sections at the moment. Wait out**

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><p><strong>The Venerable House of Le-Fay<strong>

**Chapter One:**

**The Goddess of War and Wisdom.**

Athena Lily Potter – the Girl-Who-Lived, an unusually small girl with messy raven coloured hair and distinctive emerald eyes – walked out of the long hallway that led to the Goblin carts behind the towering figure of Hagrid. She had just seen her vault for the first time. When she had gone to fill up several extra bags of gold Galleons Hagrid had stopped her telling her the money needed to last as it was what her parents had left her. Despite Hagrid's comments she had filled every spare pocket she had anyway. And then there was that _mysterious_ package in vault Seven-Hundred and Thirteen…

As she headed towards a teller to convert some of her money to Pounds she thought of Uncle Vernon's constant comments of how her parents were no-good penniless drunks and that she as a result was equally as worthless – only fit to serve and clean for her betters. The vault proved otherwise – not that she'd ever tell Vernon that as she might have an 'accident' because Uncle Vernon would expect Aunt Petunia as the closest living relative to inherit all of the money.

Heading towards the teller however, Athena was intercepted by another goblin.

"Ms Potter?" he – as Athena presumed the goblin was a male – asked.

"Uh – yes?" she replied.

"Your account manager would like a word with you," the goblin replied. "Preferably now if you have the time. There some things of great importance we must discuss."

Before Athena could respond Hagrid started talking very loudly – almost shouting.

"Very busy today Athena, lots of things ter do!" he started wildly and uncharacteristically. "Don't worry; yer accounts are in good 'ands!"

At that point Hagrid started half dragging and half pushing Athena out the front doors of the bank, so Athena very clearly looked towards the goblin that addressed her and gave him a sharp nod before disappearing from view.

"Athena, I think I'll have to get myself a pick-me-up down at the'h Cauldron," said Hagrid as he led her down the alley. "Those carts just don' do it fer me. Why don't yer go to _Madam Malkin's_ to get yer school robes?"

Athena hastily agreed as Hagrid wandered off before she simply turned around and headed back towards Gringotts. Going through the doors and under the chilling inscription detailing the fate that awaits thieves she sought out the goblin who had approached her; finding him manning a telling station. She waited patiently in line as the Goblin noticed her and very quickly shifted off his present customers to the other tellers.

"Ms Potter, I assume you're here about what I tried to discuss earlier?" he asked.

"Yes, I've managed to slip my handler for a short time – I have maybe… twenty minutes," replied Athena.

"That should be enough to some of the topic we wish to discuss with you; if you would follow me."

Athena followed the goblin through the maze of tunnels and offices quickly to find herself at a door marked 'Account Manager Goldhook'. The Teller who had led her knocked on the door and opened it for her when a guttural voice commanded her to enter.

"Ms Potter is here to see you, Account Manager," said the Teller as he directed Athena to a seat opposite the desk. "She has however explained she has little time."

With a short nod from the Account Manager the Teller left.

"Ms Potter," he started. "I am Goldhook, the Account Manager for the Potter Family accounts. It is one of the half a dozen accounts I manage."

At that Athena scrutinised the goblin very carefully. Either her accounts were significantly larger than she was led to believe or the goblin in front of her was being paid a pittance for his managing. Going by the somewhat lavish surroundings it was most likely the first rather than the latter.

"I take it I have more than what I saw in my vault – uh, Vault Six-Eight-Seven – then?" she asked carefully.

The goblin flipped through one of the many folders on his desk before settling on one page.

"Vault Six-Hundred and Eighty-Seven – Potter Family trust vault," he read. "Refilled to five-thousand Galleons at the start of every financial year from Vault One-Hundred and Thirteen – the Potter Family Vault, upon you coming of age the vault is closed and the funds transferred back into the Potter Family Vault."

"I was led to believe by my – uh – _handler_ that my trust vault was my _only_ vault," said Athena delicately.

"Yes," replied the goblin as he thoughtfully scratch his chin. "It is clear you're aware that someone is trying to cover up your inheritance. Still, we're very pressed for time I take it?"

Athena nodded.

"Once you're able to slip your handler in a more permanent manner you will need to come back here – preferably today," continued the Goblin. "There are a great many things to discuss and I'm sure you have many questions; questions best answered when we aren't pressed for time.

Athena nodded in agreement at that.

"The Teller is outside the door and will lead you back to the main foyer," finished the goblin. "And don't forget today, else we will miss out on many opportunities."

With that a somewhat confused Athena made her way to Madam Malkin's.

o0o0o0o

Athena had entered Madam Malkin's – passing a sneering blond boy – only thirty seconds earlier than Hagrid who arrived and quizzed Athena on why she had only just entered Madam Malkin's. She easily passed it off as being distracted by all the sights in Diagon Alley – like many starry eyed children would be upon entering the magical world which Hagrid easily bought.

After purchasing her robes Hagrid led Athena to _Florean Fortescue's_, talking with her over some ice-cream.

"So ther's four houses at Hogwarts," he began. "Hufflepuff which some people say are a load o' duffers but are real'eh ther' just hard workers, Ravenclaw which is fer yer bookworms and brain'eh types, Slytherin fer yer ambitious sort – but yeh don' wanna go there; there's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't a Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one."

Hagrid paused in time for Athena to nod very cautiously and slowly. When she didn't say anything on the matter Hagrid continued.

"And then ther's Gryffindor – that was my 'ouse – fer the brave and bold," finished Hagrid, clearly impressed with his old house.

Finishing their ice-cream Hagrid led Athena to the bookstore – _Flourish and Blotts_ – to purchase her schoolbooks. Once she had selected the books from the required book list she attempted to purchase books on other topics. Hagrid told her she didn't need books on magic outside of what was on the book list, he said no to books on magical politics and government, he said no to books on magical history deeming them 'not fer children' and said they covered 'unpleasant things no child should be burden'd with'. Hagrid final led the sullen Athena Potter out of the book store and offered to buy her an owl as a birthday present and quite possibly to cheer her up.

Fifteen minutes later they both walked out of _Eeylops Owl Emporium_, a Snowy Owl in tow before moving off to the Apothecary. Athena eyed the solid silver, gold and other exotic metal cauldrons; wondering what their purposes was before moving off and selecting the higher priced and much larger advanced potions tool-kit which Hagrid insisted she put back and select the basic model. Athena slipped the advanced kit back into the pile of goods while the proprietor watched silently when Hagrid's back was turned.

Finally Hagrid told Athena they were getting her wand next.

"Hagrid?" she asked. "You said Ollivander's is the only place to get wands, right? Is that because they're the only wand maker in Diagon Alley or is it because he's the best?"

Hagrid took a very long time to answer. He seemed to have never thought it through thoroughly.

"I heard there's a few 'ustom wander makers but they're might'eh expensive and rather shady."

Athena's trip to Ollivanders was interesting to say the least, more accurately would be plain creepy. She received a wand that was supposedly the sibling to Voldemort's wand and discovered Hagrid had his wand snapped. After hastily paying she left with Hagrid who led her back through the Leaky Cauldron and towards the tube station. After paying for a ticket and making sure she made it to the train station, Hagrid said his goodbyes and left. As soon as he was out of sight Athena once again turned around and walked out, abandoning her unused ticket in a passing bin and snuck back towards the Leaky Cauldron.

"Hello Tom," she said to the bartender as she walked in. "Is it possible for me to get a room?"

Tom eyed Athena suspiciously; she was awfully young to be staying alone. After several seconds he must have decided he could keep an eye on her and keep her safe.

"That I can do Ms Potter," he said as he pulled a key from under the counter. "Would you like meals included for your stay? We can provide dinner and breakfast if you'd like."

Athena accepted the offer of breakfast and dinner before paying of just a single night. She had no intention of telling Tom she intended to stay until September first by paying everything upfront now. She would pay by day.

Tom helped Athena carry all of her school supplied upstairs before she locked the door to her room and proceeded to Gringotts; past the dwindling lines of shoppers as the day drew to a close.

Taking a leisurely stroll as she was no longer encumbered by the weight of her procurements she thought on the character of Hagrid. He didn't _seem_ like an untrustworthy figure – more naïve than untrustworthy – like someone easily manipulated. On the other hand he may just be an amazing actor; pulling off the 'bumbling idiot' persona to lull her into a false sense of security.

Hagrid's attempts to keep her away from most of the information seemed genuine to her; possibly someone had convinced Hagrid that she didn't need to know such things and Hagrid genuinely believed it. It wouldn't be hard to convince someone that child does not need to know anything of war and the treachery of politics. The way Hagrid reacted to the message from her account manager though was a bit odd, too _extreme_, she thought. Athena pushed the thoughts away for now though as she climbed the marble steps of Gingotts.

o0o0o0o

"It is good to see you visited us _today_, Ms Potter," said Goldhook, her account manager as she took a seat opposite.

"I am still curious as to why today of all days is important, Account Manager," asked Athena respectfully. "What is so special about my eleventh birthday to your bank?"

"You taking an Inheritance Test is what's important on your eleventh birthday," he replied carefully. "Assuming you consent that is."

"What's in it for me?" asked Athena after some consideration. "More so; why would you offer me this?"

The goblin gave Athena a small toothy grin. He liked a human who was discerning; wanting to know the motives of a bank to offer an Inheritance Test.

"An inheritance test would allow you to lay claim to previously thought extinct families you are possibly descendant from; that includes their money, land and titles," he replied smoothly. "As for why we would offer this: it makes us money. Money locked up in unclaimed vaults doesn't make more money – we can't invest it and get a cut of the profits."

Athena returned the goblins smile.

"Good answer," she replied. "I will – assuming the price is reasonable that is."

"It's of no charge actually," responded the goblin to Athena's surprise. "History has shown us that performing these tests nearly every time pays for itself many-many times over. It would be unfortunate after all if a pauper who could not afford an inheritance test could subsequently not lay claim to a significant fortune. Would it not?"

"It would," she agreed. "Well – for your profits as least."

Goldhook gave Athena a laugh at that.

"Yes, our profit margin would feel it."

"So, how do I do this?" asked Athena. "What's involved?"

Goldhook got up and motioned Athena to follow, drawing attention to what looked like a heavily built wooden table in the corner of his office. Next to the large table was a smaller table where a small gold cauldron sat. Upon close inspection, Athena saw that the heavier table actually had a very shallow stone basin for a top, bordered with wooden trim. Inside the basin sat a very large piece of parchment several feet long on each side along with a much smaller scroll of parchment sitting in the centre.

"The test is quite simple," explained the goblin. "First you need to add your blood to the potion until its colour changes to pitch black colour –"

At this Athena peered over the top of the small gold cauldron and saw it contained a perfectly clear liquid she would probably have mistaken for water.

"– once it has done so you will need to pour the potion onto the two pieces of parchment provided – don't worry; the cauldron is cold. The larger one will show your family tree – how far back depends on several factors but it will run out of space on the parchment at about forty generations. The smaller scroll will list every magical family you are descendant from in order how many generations ago it was while marking which families are headless and could possibly be claimed – possibly as you will be incapable of claiming some families due to your gender and age."

"Uh – how much blood will it take for the potion to change colour?"

"Depends on the person," replied Goldhook. "Usually it requires several ounces."

Athena wasn't sure how much an ounce was as they hadn't taught imperial measurements at school in many years. She thought it was probably less than the shot of spirits that Uncle Vernon would sometimes demand.

"The blade is enchanted so your wound will heal after use," added Goldhook as Athena thought.

"Right – uh – so do it now?" she asked.

"Yes, it needs to sit for several hours," he replied. "It will probably be done by the time we've finished discussing the Potter account."

Athena nodded before slicing open her left hand with a slight grimace; nothing worse than what she had experienced before and this would heal quickly. She held her hand over the cauldron and waited for it to change colour. It slowly started to turn red and as she began to think 'how much longer?' it turned from red to black very suddenly. Goldhook then offered Athena a piece of clean white cloth to hold onto the wound until the healing magic from the blade kicked in.

"It will have healed in a few minutes," he said before taking the cauldron and pouring it contents over the parchment.

o0o0o0o

Taking a seat, Athena still had one question on her mind.

"You still haven't explained why this could only be done today," she said, gesturing towards the Inheritance Test.

"Simple, there are only two times when it is legal for us to do an inheritance test; by going before the Wizengamot and asking if no one objects to the performing of a test – which there nearly always is, and on a person's eleventh birthday."

Athena's eyebrows met as she tried to figure out why. Unable to figure anything out with certainty she asked another question.

"And the Wizengamot is…?"

Goldhook looked at Athena and raised a single eyebrow before speaking.

"What have you been taught about the government?"

"I assume you mean magical government?" she replied to which Goldhook nodded. "Nothing; until last night I didn't even know about the magical world."

Goldhook grumbled in another language before recomposing himself at that answer.

"I see a long night ahead of me," he said with a sigh. "Let's see, we have the _Ministry of Magic_, which is the magical government for the United Kingdom. The Ministry is headed by the _Minister of Magic _who is elected by the magical humans of the UK. The laws the Ministry follows are made by the Wizengamot which is made up of the hereditary Heads of the 'Ancient' and 'Noble' houses, the Chief Warlock – who is the leader of the Wizengamot, the Minister of Magic and his or hers staff.

"Furthermore the Wizengamot also makes up the judicial branch of the Ministry; each year thirty-six members are selected to act as the jury during legal proceedings. Depending on the severity of the case there may be anything from three to the full thirty-six of them in attendance. During a trial either the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, the Minister or the Chief Warlock may act as judges – or in some cases all three."

Athena gave Goldhook a slow nod as she processed all this.

"You said '_hereditary Heads' _and you mentioned the inheritance of titles," thought Athena aloud. "Is it possible I may gain a title from this inheritance test?"

"You already have one," replied the goblin. "Normally the Noble and Ancient House of Potter is patriarchal, but per the House Potter Charter if there is no living Potter males the headship falls to the eldest female Potter – that would be you. Once again, per the charter, you can take headship at seventeen. But yes, you could gain more."

"I think the first thing I do tomorrow should be to buy quite a few books on these topics, I'm clearly at a disadvantage here growing up in the muggle world," she said before continuing. "So, the government is run by group of hereditary seats, I assume an inheritance test is the only easy was to prove you have a right to those seats besides the obvious of being born into them –"

Goldhook gave a nod at that.

"– so by restricting it they stop people from weakening their powerbase," she finished. "But why do they allow it to be done at all?"

"Sometime people want to prove someone is their child and thus worthy of having the title passed to them. They _could_ go through the Wizengamot to do so but then everyone would know you're having doubts about the legitimacy of your child and thus create a scandal so they allow one very narrow window in a lifetime that avoids the public spectacle. Even then some hesitate to prove it as it may prove their own illegitimacy."

Athena made a pondering 'hmm' sound and nodded.

"Still, I digress; we should be getting onto the discussion of the Potter Accounts of which you are the heiress."

o0o0o0o

"So in summary the Potter Accounts have a total of four-hundred and fifty-six thousand galleons in liquid assets, two-hundred and twenty thousand galleons in muggle and magical commercial property generating a seven percent return per year and seventy-five thousand galleons in muggle stocks generating a twenty-one percent return giving a total value of seven-hundred and fifty-one thousand galleons which made thirty-one thousand galleons last financial year."

"So how much is that in pounds?" asked Athena after Goldhook explained everything in the Potter portfolio.

"At the moment it is twenty-one point three pounds to the galleon," he said before tapping on what Athena presumed was some sort of ancient mechanical typewriter. "Just a shy under sixteen million pounds."

Athena did her best to hide her surprise at that.

"It was significantly more at one point and nearly all the liquid assets came from the profits generated since the death of your parents – normally they would be reinvested back into property or shares to generate more money," he continued. "As for the more part, your father made some significant donations to fund the war effort during the war; in the range of three-quarters of a million galleons."

"Can we put that money to use now?"

The goblins gave a slight frown.

"No we cannot," he replied. "As I've mentioned, each family has a charter – bylaws for that house if you will – that regulate things like inheritance of titles, rights of family members and such. The Potter Charter means that though you are the heiress, you can't claim the title of head until you are seventeen and that you can't have any control over the financial affairs of the House until you are thirteen – and even then it is under the guidance of your guardian and myself. Some families on the other hand may set those ages higher, lower or not at all."

Athena grumbled slightly at such a waste before Goldhook continued.

"Attached to the Potter Family is three properties; The former site of Potter Manor which was destroyed in the last war, a small island in Bermuda which includes a small holiday home and a home in Godric's Hollow which was seized by the Ministry and turned into a monument following your parents death – putting it in a legal grey area as they may not have had the right to do so."

"Hmm – how long do you think the Inheritance Test has left?" she asked, avoiding the area of law.

"Perhaps thirty minutes," he replied.

"Do you know any way to magically control someone?" she asked. "I think much of Hagrid's concerns today regarding what I could buy were genuine in his mind – though it wouldn't be hard to convince him so – but the scene in the lobby was peculiar even for him."

Goldhook scratched his chin in thought for several seconds before he replied.

"There are many – some more illegal than others – but going by what I assume were sudden personality changes it would have been a compulsion charm. It would be a safe guess that whoever laid the charm also convinced Hagrid to limit what you could purchase," he explained. "I assume what was restricted was books, was it not?"

Athena nodded.

"Do purchase them anyway, you will need the knowledge, and there was probably a very good reason – not for you that is – as to why someone wants you ignorant."

o0o0o0o

Athena and Goldhook spent the remaining thirty minutes discussing the magical government, focussing particularly on goblins and their standing with the Ministry – a topic Athena found interesting. Athena found the goblin's interest in discussing things other than business with her surprising; Hagrid's comments gave her the impression they were very guff and unpleasant fellows only interested in money. He was probably right about the money part but she just assumed that Goldhook had good foresight and saw that having someone with fame and wealth on their side was a good thing. Athena decided to research the wizard side of the argument first though before picking a side as it were.

"Family tree or inheritance list first?" asked Goldhook as he carried the scroll and larger sheet of parchment to the desk.

"Tree, I think," she replied.

Goldhook laid the large parchment down on the table and joined Athena on the same side.

Looking at the tree it was far from the neatness she had envisioned. The names and lines sprawled across the parchment like a spider's web with her name, Athena Lily Potter, connected to 'James Potter' and 'Lily Potter née Evans' at the very bottom.

"Impressive," commented the goblin. "Your tree is unusually strong. Rarely does a tree go back the full forty generations."

"What stops it from doing so?" asked Athena.

"If you were magically very poor that would do it, but inbreeding is the usual cause," he replied. "You can see some signs of it here looking at some distant relatives on your father's side."

As he said, there were a few lines that simply faded and vanished on the parchment but thankfully they were few and far between.

"The double lines indicate a magical descendent, the single line indicated dormant magic – which is where muggleborns such as your mother usually get magic from, while the single dotted lines indicate someone with no magic in their blood. You will see some listings of siblings on the tree you are not descended from – normally the tree is incapable of detecting siblings except in cases of twins or triplets and such because they usually share a special magical bond.

Athena decided to inspect the tree and find where her mother's magic came from, landing on a branch of the tree that very quickly faded due to some horrific inbreeding which ended in a non-magical child. She could trace the line all the way down to her through her mother's mother.

"So, the scroll then? I figure I shall pursue this later when I'm no longer consuming your time."

Goldhook nodded and broke the seal on the scroll, letting it unroll under its own weight and roll down to the floor, surprising Athena with it length.

"Let's see…" muttered the goblin as he inspected the list. "Of course we have Potter at the top of the list, House Black – two generations ago – which you can't claim unless you were named heir by the previous Head Black, Bulstrode which currently has a head as does Flint.

Goldhook keep muttering before gasping slightly in shock and nearly dropping the offending scroll. Athena simply raised a questioning eyebrow.

"The Most Ancient House of Gaunt," he muttered. "That is most unusual. I would recommend keeping that to yourself; the Gaunts were a very unpleasant family whose last named member died in Azkaban about forty years back. They were said to be descendants of Slytherin."

"As in Hogwarts Slytherin?" asked Athena.

"Yes… I must ask; are you a Parcel – I mean to say, can you talk to snakes?"

Athena quickly schooled her features from shock at that question.

"Yes."

"It is most likely true then that they are descended from Slytherin – legend has it that Parceltounge was a gift he had," he replied carefully. "I would suggest keeping that quiet, myself; many would view you with suspicion at that. Being a Parceltounge – that is someone who can talk to snakes – is viewed as dark by many less enlightened."

Athena nodded in agreement at that; another thing to research before Goldhook began to inspect the family tree.

"There we are," he said as his finger traced the line Athena had traced earlier. "Eleven generations ago; Maia Gaunt, daughter of Taygete and Iners Gaunt – who just happened to be uncle and niece – married a muggle. Most likely she was a squib and thus fled from her family for her life."

"Oh," was all Athena said before remembering the task at hand. "Is there a title I can claim then?"

"Claiming the Gaunt title would be pointless," he explained. "The family is bankrupt – several million galleons that is – and thus is unable to sit on the Wizengamot until their debts are repaid. That is ignoring of course that the family is purely patriarchal. You also can't claim the Slytherin title as the four founders consolidated their seats into one Hogwarts seat in exchange for certain rights and autonomy for Hogwarts. The Hogwarts seat is sat in by the Headmaster of the school."

Goldhook continued to examine the parchment, occasionally muttering about seats that Athena was unable to claim for various reasons before gasping again; this time louder.

"The Venerable House of Le-Fay," he said.

o0o0o0o

"As in Morgana Le-Fay?" asked Athena with a questioning look. "Enemy of Merlin? Wait, so Merlin is real too?"

"Yes, yes and yes," replied Goldhook. "Many of the muggle myths are actually true; we have documentable evidence of them. The existence of the Le-Fay Seat on the Wizengamot and the vault are just two of many."

"Oh, so I can just sign a few forms and I can claim this title?" asked Athena sceptically.

"Unusually, yes," began the goblin thoughtfully, choosing his words. "Normally – for most houses that is – if you wanted to claim an unclaimed and thought to be extinct headship you would need to put out a call for other claimants; usually it's about thirty-one days. During that time anyone else who thinks – or more accurately just anyone who has an inkling of a thought they just _might_ be a descendant – can come into Gringotts and test themselves against the Chief Claimant. Now, as they can't do an Inheritance Test they instead test their blood against the Chief Claimant and if their blood is found to have a more superior claim than the Chief Claimant they become the new Chief Claimant who has to defend their right to the headship against other claimants until the thirty-one day period expires.

"The reason for this all boils down to one line in nearly every House Charter stipulating that the headship belongs to the eldest child – usually male – of the primary line, which is accompanied by another line passing over headship if the heir is incapacitated or unable to be found."

"But this doesn't apply to the House of Le-Fay?"

"No it does not," he replied. "The House of Le-Fay has always operated in the shadows – ever since Morgana Le-Fay was branded a dark witch all those years ago – so they have sought secrecy and anonymity. They sent their children to Hogwarts under different names, voted on their Wizengamot seat through proxies or shrouded and cloaked, and never publicly identified themselves – to do so would arouse suspicion and mistrust around them.

"That was until in the late fourteen-hundreds when a new Dark Lord – or more correctly _Lady _– emerged calling herself Morgana Le-Fay – after her ancestor – and attempted to overthrow the Wizards Council; which was the predecessor to the Ministry. The whole family was thought to have been wiped out and no-one has claimed the seat since.

"But I digress; the House of Le-Fay, seeking to stay out of the public eye allows _any_ female descendant to claim the headship when no female who was born a Le-Fay exists. As you are the first no one can contest it and no calls are required to be made for other claimants."

"Wow," was all Athena could say. "Uh – ok – what do I need to do?"

"Simple, all you have to do is sign a few forms," he replied with a grin.

Athena carefully read of the half-a-dozen pages to confirm the documents were indeed what Goldhook said they were. As much as she hated her despicable uncle, he was probably correct about reading contracts carefully and not to trust bankers.

As she read another question came to mind.

"The house isn't in debt, is it? I won't have to pay off debts if I claim it, will I?"

"Good question," said Goldhook. "The House is not, but you would have been responsible for the debt if there was any and you signed."

Finding the documents in order and her question satisfied she looked across Goldhook's desk seeking a pen to sign with.

"You will have to sign with this quill, I'm afraid," he said as he handed over a black, almost metallic looking quill. "This is a _Blood Quill_, as the name implies it uses blood as ink - the writers to be precise. They are commonly used on significant legal documents. The idea is that if you are under magical compulsion such as the _Imperius Curse _– which is an enslaving curse, or potions designed to make one susceptible to others influence it would be detectable on your blood and thus you could dispute the validity of the contract. This is because there is a clear magical difference between _willingly_ and _unwillingly_ given blood."

Athena examined the quill for a few seconds confirming it was actually made of metal, surprisingly heavy and that it was razor sharp before proceeding to sign the documents.

Signing the first page resulted in a sharp pain on the back of Athena's right hand which suddenly vanished, leaving a very faint red line on the back of her hand which spelled out her name.

"It won't scar, if you're worried," he said as he noticed Athena examining her hand. "The quill is charmed to heal any wound it causes and prevent any scaring; it would take quite a significant amount of use to overcome those charms."

Athena nodded and proceeded to sign the rest of the document; each page requiring a signature.

"Let me be the first to congratulate you, Lady Le-Fay," said Goldhook with what Athena assumed was a smile.

"Uh – thanks," she replied slightly more weakly than normal.

"Now, let me send for the Le-Fay portfolio," he said as he taped a few runes on his desk. "It is safe to assume the vault has not been inventoried since the death of the previous Lady Le-Fay and more likely a lot earlier than that so I will only be able to give you an accurate description on the gold content of the vault – it is unlikely any shares or companies the House owns still exist."

At that moment a younger goblin can in and discussed something with Goldhook. Athena thought she heard the name Le-Fay a few times and presumed the goblin was retrieving the documents pertaining to the house.

"It may take a while to retrieve the documents from the archive," said Goldhook as the younger goblin left. "So I think we should discuss the rest of the list."

"There's more?" asked Athena with slight surprise.

"No more families that you can claim I'm afraid; there are two here that are patriarchal, so I suggest coming in her on your son's eleventh birthday – if you ever have one this is – so he can claim it," replied Goldhook with sadness that he couldn't open any more old family vaults and make more money. "But there are twenty-three personal vaults unclaimed. As they're not houses with charters they revert to Gringott's rules for inheritance; which means if the owner is dead and no-one claims it after fifty years, then any relative can claim them."

"So what's in them?" she asked.

"Money," he replied with a shrug. "I've asked Bladeclaw to collect the documents pertaining to these vaults as well so we can find out exactly. There are also probably some artefacts in some of the vaults but it will mostly be money."

"What sort of artefacts can I be expecting to find in these vaults?" she asked curiously.

"Weddings rings, family wands and books are some of the more common items we find. But we do occasionally find a few very nasty things too; things like cursed jewellery and weapons, body parts for use in potions and various 'dark' artefacts."

"Is it possible for me to hire someone to inspect them? I would like to avoid being cursed if I can help it," countered Athena dryly.

"That can be done," he replied. "Might I suggest you merge the vaults into one and have them inventoried?"

"That sounds like it could work."

o0o0o0o

"Let's see," said Goldhook as he examined the stack of thin folders. "I think we should sign over the personal vaults first, merge them and arrange an inventory for them before we deal with the Le-Fay account."

Athena didn't object assuming the goblin probably knew the paperwork best.

Working out a system; Goldhook would copy over the particulars from the files to the acquisition papers and Athena would subsequently sign them. Twenty three forms later and a rather sore hand meant that Athena now had sixty-two thousand galleons if free cash.

"I should invest it I think," she said as she looked the new folder over.

"I would suggest waiting until after we discuss the Le-Fay portfolio; you may end up merging them," he said to which Athena nodded. "Good, let's see. "One-hundred and eighteen-thousand galleons in gold and one-hundred and twenty-thousand galleons in defunct companies – that's a total write-off. You also own a large parcel of land that was once home to Le-Fay castle until it's destruction in around six-hundred and fifty-eight and then it was home to Le-Fay manor which was abandoned and looted following the destruction of the family."

"How big is this property, and for that matter how big are Potter Island in Bermuda and the former location of Potter Manor?" asked Athena.

"Let's see…" he said as he flipped through the pages in the Le-Fay portfolio and then through the Potter portfolio. "The Le-Fay estate is approximately eight-thousand acres of land located in the High Peak Forest in Derbyshire, the former site of Potter Manor is approximately nine-hundred and fifty acres of land in Hampshire and the island owned by the Potters in Bermuda is approximately one-hundred and fifty acres of land."

"Not bad," muttered Athena as she thought. "Ok – move the contents of my newly acquired vaults into the Le-Fay vault, inventory the vault, mark which items are hazardous and move them into the old vault until I decide what to do with them."

"It will be difficult," said Goldhook after he pondered for a few seconds. "Family vaults are usually locked with blood. While we have our own special ways to remove gold from them we can't do anything else with them; we can't remove items and we can't inventory them unless you were to open it. It would then take several days to inventory the items and the vault which would remain open would require a round-the-clock guard. It's expensive."

"How much?" asked Athena with a sigh.

"About 45 galleons per day per guard, 25 galleons per day per goblin to inventory the vault, and consultation fees if something usual is found and needs inspecting."

"Don't you trust the layers of security that you need to go through to get to the vault to protect it while it's open for a few days?" asked Athena.

Goldhook scrutinised Athena before speaking carefully.

"Most humans don't trust us with unguarded access to their vaults and prefer to have some _human_ guards overseeing it."

"Oh," said Athena in comprehension. "Don't bother; you already said yourself that you can remove gold from my vaults, I don't see how the door being open changes anything."

Goldhook scribbled something down before proceeding.

"Very well," he said uneasily. "Is there anything else you wish to discuss? If not we can proceed down to the Le-Fay vault, get it open and begin the inventory right away."

"Yes, there is," she replied. "I was hoping you could recommend a lawyer? Maybe one who doesn't mind too much tutoring me on the Wizengamot while being able to perform any other legal function I require?"

"I can look into it. I should be able to send you a recommendation by tomorrow morning, Ms Potter."

o0o0o0o

Athena followed Goldhook out of the office and back towards the bank lobby, gathering several goblins along the way. Once in the lobby she found it empty bar two tellers counting money. Out the front door she could see it was beginning to get dark and reminded herself that Tom was probably keeping an eye on her and will expect her back.

"The bank is open at all hours of the day," said Goldhook as she gazed around the empty lobby. "Some creatures can only enter the bank at night and some simply prefer to do business at night."

Athena gave a silent slow nod and joined the congregation as they walked towards the carts; the group consisting of six goblins including Goldhook and Athena; requiring two carts to take them down into the lowest levels of the bank.

As the cart raced down deeper into the bank, long past the level where her trust vault resided, the air got colder and they passed many underground features like rivers and lakes before the cart came to a stop with a screech and a jet of sparks before a black forged iron door bearing the inscription of 'Le-Fay' and the number twenty-six in brazed green copper script.

Climbing out of the cart the goblins and single human gathered around the vault door. Athena noted the door wasn't very big – a slightly tall person would need to keep their head down less they strike their head.

"Ms Potter," said Goldhook as the goblins made a path between themselves allowing Athena to pass. "The vault requires a small amount of blood to gain entry."

Athena gave Goldhook a small nod. With the demonstration they could get lineage from blood it wasn't too surprising that blood would be used to gain entrance to her new vault.

"If you look closely you will see a small protrusion with a hole in the centre of it in the centre of the door," he said once he got the nod of understanding. "Placing your finger on this protrusion will automatically pierce your finger and draw blood. Simply smear it on the surface of the door and it will open.

Athena did as instructed. Placing a finger over the hole resulted in a click being heard as a small sharp pain was felt on her finger. She then haphazardly smeared it across the door surface which glowed briefly before the blood vanished into it surface. This was followed by a succession of clicking and clunking noises from behind the door as it unlocked before opening outward on its own with a loud groan that reverberated around the cave.

Taking a step back as not to be knocked over by the door, Athena gazed into her new vault; the place could only be described as a mess. Inside were haphazard piles of gold coins, gems, gold bullion, jewellery, weapons and armour scattered all over the vault. To Athena's thanks the vaults considerable collection of books were stacked over to once side though she wished they had been placed off the floor.

Following her heart she walked over to the books first, ignoring the other valuables in the vault.

"Ms Potter," called out one of the many goblins. "Please don't touch anything just yet. Anything in here – including the books – may be cursed. They could cause you considerable harm."

Giving a sigh she instead decided to look but not touch; finding many of the book titles to be languages other than English – possibly Welsh or Gaelic. A few of the titles however were in a slightly antiquated form of English but still readable.

Making up her mind she approached Goldhook who was watching over the other goblins.

"Goldhook, I think I'll go now," she said. "It's been a long day and though I lost my minders I suspect other may be keeping an eye out for me."

"Very well, Ms Potter, I'll have someone give you a ride up," he said.

"Thank you," she replied. "Is it possible you could have the books checked first? I think I have a more pressing need for them than everything else in here."

"It shall be done," he replied.

"Good, I'll probably be back tomorrow to discuss more things with you. I'm sure something slipped my mind with the massive overload of information."

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for reading. Please review, favourite and follow.<strong>

**A/N -1: Seriously? What sort of life do you have to spend your days complaining about a fanfic pairing? There are hundreds of thousands of Harry Potter fics on , move on and foind one that does satisfy your preferred ship.  
><strong>

**A/N - 2: I've decided to change the rating to T for now. It will go back to M when I have some M rated content in it. I fixed a few typos  
><strong>

**A/N - 3: I rewrote the last section. I wrote the last bit rather sleep deprived and after reading it after a good night's sleep I hated it. The dragon felt like filler. Really it's a terrible security measure so I scrapped it and reserved it for idiotic purebloods who forget that all you need to get past the dragon is something that clanks**

**A/N -4: Reworded a few sections**


	2. Bookworm

**I'm rewriting large sections at the moment. Wait out**

* * *

><p><strong>The Venerable House of Le-Fay<strong>

**Chapter Two:**

**Bookworm**

Athena had trouble getting to sleep that night as she processed all of this new information. Despite the lack of sleep though her internal clock woke her up in the wee hours of the morning as she was expected at the Dursley's home to make them a significant breakfast.

Deciding she would not be able to get back to sleep she got up and changed into her clothes from the previous day, making a note to go shopping for some new casual clothes rather than castoffs. Taking a look in the mirror she changed plans and decided to do it first thing after breakfast rather than go to Gringotts and ask Goldhook a question that occurred to her in bed the night before.

Making her way downstairs to the bar she ordered her breakfast and ate it quietly in the darkest corner of the Cauldron she could find in an attempt to not be noticed by fans and admirers.

Having succeeded in having a peaceful and interruption free breakfast, Athena wrote a short list of the things she needed to do before she made her way out the door and into the muggle world for some casual clothes. Her experience from the previous day told her that casual clothes from _Madam Malkin's _meant plain robes of varying colours while many of the children and teenagers in the Alleyway had worn slightly outdated muggle fashions – a much more sensible choice.

Walking down a London street she sought out a suitable store while avoiding anything too upper market as they probably kick her out seeing her in her current rags, after all at this stage she only needed something her own size and casual rather than some formal wear.

Shopping only took her an hour to get a basic wardrobe but when she re-entered the Leaky Cauldron she found a surprised Tom behind the counter. Apparently he hadn't seen her leave so when she suddenly returned from the muggle world he berated her for being so reckless because apparently the muggle world is dangerous and Diagon Alley is not. Athena made a show to agree before making a mental note not to be spotted in future. Maybe there was another entrance to the Alley she could leave from?

o0o0o0o

Next on Athena's list of things to do were glasses; she had never had her prescription updated and had only once made the mistake of asking for new glasses. Now she had money though it seemed like a very reasonable investment to get a new pair or two.

To her surprise it seemed the magical world did have Optometrists and she wouldn't at this stage need to sneak out again. The place was somewhat tiny and clearly designed so only one or two people can get tested at once.

The Optometrist's was run by a young witch who looked to be in her late twenties. Athena could also see jeans and sneakers sticking out the bottom of her lime green robes.

"Hello, how can I help you Ms …?" she asked as Athena came through the door.

"Potter," she replied, glad she wasn't instantly recognisable with her hair covering the distinctive scar.

"Oh," she said mouth agape before she realised she hadn't said anything else. "Uh – I'm Katherine Logan, how can I help you today?"

"Ah, yes," replied Athena as she gave the woman a small smile. "I need a new prescription and glasses; they're somewhat out of date, or is there some sort of magical solution?"

"I'm sorry Ms Potter but there isn't any simple solution to improving eyesight through magic. The only thing I can think of is transfiguration of the eyeball – but that is only used in drastic cases for people with near blindness as it can only correct vision to the 'indistinguishable blobs' level," she explained. "I can however get you a new prescription for your eyes and we have a wide range of frames available. I can also add some simple enchantments like anti-scratch and anti-break."

Katherine proceeded to get Athena's eye tested while Athena thought it was a perfect time to do some fact finding.

"I'm rather new to Diagon Alley and when I was shown around I never got to go down a side street; can you tell me what's that all about?" asked Athena.

"Oh – well there isn't really much down the side streets," she explained as she jotted down some numbers. "Of course there's Diagon Alley which is the _diagonal_ alleyway. Then on your left as you leave the Leaky Cauldron is _Market Way_ which sells mostly foodstuffs like groceries and has a few restaurants. At the very end of Market Way is _Thatching Street_ which connects to the far end of Diagon alley which is mostly homes though a lot of people who work in the Alley live above their shops."

"So the whole thing makes a triangle?" she asked.

"Uhh – yes, I believe it does."

"Thanks for the information," replied Athena before applying a false look of puzzlement. "Uh, what about the street on the right just before Gringotts?"

"Oh, that," she replied uneasily. "That's Knockturn Alley; best not be seen down there. There might be a few legitimate businesses down there but for the most part they're not."

"Oh, okay, thanks."

o0o0o0o

Leaving the optometrists after being told her old prescription could only be described as horrible and that her new new prescription would be ready tomorrow afternoon, Athena wondered how a street supposedly devoted to the dark arts could exist; if they sold large amounts of illegal items why hadn't the police – or the magical equivalent – shut them down?

Pondering this Athena made her way up the alley looking for a shop that would sell her a book bag – the sort she could use to carry books back and forth from her Gringotts vault. It didn't seem very wise to take all of her – probably valuable – books out of the vault at once and have them stolen.

Athena found a book bag in the shop that also sold trunks; it apparently was larger on the inside than the out.

"How much larger can you make it on the inside?" she asked as she paid for her purchase.

"Four, maybe five times?" suggested the aging craftsman. "Space expansion charms are rather fickly; the amount of power required to make and _maintain_ them increases faster than the volume. They also react poorly to some magical items."

"It will be safe for books, right?" asked Athena.

"Well it is a book bag," he replied as if it was obvious.

Leaving the store Athena headed up towards Gringotts not sure if her new books had been examined yet. The goblins had seemed rather eager to start digging through her vault so they may have worked through the night, or on the other hand she may have read them wrong and they liked working normal hours.

As she approached the bank she passed the infamous Knockturn Alley. Taking a look down she could see that some people were wearing hooded cloaks and moving very rapidly as if they didn't want to linger or be recognised while many others – some whom she assumed were incredibly well dressed – strolled down the alley as if they owned it.

Moving on Athena walked up the marble steps and into Gringotts.

o0o0o0o

The cart ride like the four times before was fast. Passing many heavy vault doors, an underground lake and a distant jet of flame the cart sharply ground to a halt in front of her vault with a spray of sparks.

When Athena had asked a teller if Goldhook was available she had been informed that he was down in the vaults. The way the teller said it suggested he was down in the Le-Fay vault and so she was thankful he didn't blurt it out aloud for everyone to hear – she had decided to stick by what _most_ of her Le-Fay ancestors had done and keep her mouth shut on the matter.

Entering the vault she found Goldhook recording the items in the vault in a large leather bound ledger. The vault also contained a noticeably larger amount of gold and other precious metals and stones.

"Ah! Ms Potter, how are you today?" he asked as he looked up from his work.

"I'm good, thanks," she replied before a thought occurred to her. "I have a question though…"

The goblin motioned to ask it.

"You only called me Lady Le-Fay once; why is that?"

Goldhook looked at Athena curiously for a moment before replying.

"It does slip my mind occasionally that you know very little of magical customs," he replied evenly. "Even the – uh – _most snobbish_ of wizards rarely use their titles; restricting their use to the most formal of occasions or when someone needs a good talking down too. I believe this stems from the very high ratio of magical lords and ladies to regular witches and wizards."

"Oh, okay," she replied in understanding.

"Yes; at their peak there were about three hundred lords and ladies to about fifteen to twenty thousand magicals. Showing the formalities to them would become very tiring and tedious if one in fifty people you met were one."

"That makes sense," replied Athena thoughtfully. "In the non-magical world I believe there are several hundred hereditary peers to fifty million odd people so they are a lot rarer."

Goldhook gave a nod at that.

"Still, that was only a question that just occurred to me," continued Athena. "I was hoping the books had been checked over."

"Ah – yes," he replied quite happily. "It is some collection if I say so myself; some of the books there had thought to have been lost to time and some appear to be journals – but not just any journals, some are dated from the late 400s AD meaning they may be the _First_ Lady Le-Fay's journals."

Athena's eyebrows shot up slightly at that.

"Wow," was all she said.

"Yes, 'wow'," replied Goldhook with a touch of amusement. "I had the books inventoried first and I have a copy of it here for you to pursue."

Taking the offered parchment Athena began to skim through it. The list included the book's name, the name translated into reasonably modern English – if applicable, the book's condition, estimated age and estimated value – though a large number had no estimated value.

Looking at the list Athena could see there were several hundred books that appeared to be journals and that the earliest dozen were dated in the late 400s and early 500s as Goldhook had stated.

"I take it the journals are not in English?" she asked.

"No, they are not," he replied. "The major language spoken at the time was Welsh with some Gaelic and Latin."

"What about these books with no value listed?" she asked.

"Those are the books which I cannot estimate accurately," he replied. "Some are the books that have thought to have been lost and many are private Le-Fay family books like the journals. Both would fetch a very hefty individually and with no precedent for their sales some could easily go into the high tens of thousands of galleons range – _each_."

Nodding as she went, Athena made her way over to the new shelves that now housed the books.

As she couldn't read any language other than English she skipped over the many journals as much as she wished she could dig into them and pursued the later books written in a slightly older form of English. Many of the names jumped out as words you might see in high-fantasy fiction at which Athena corrected herself seeing as she had now discovered she was a witch and was standing in a vault guarded by not-so-mythical goblins.

As she scanned the shelves she noticed that some of the books written in other languages had names that were similar to the English titles. They had the same number of words, same number of syllables and many of the sounds were similar to their English counterparts.

Checking the list Goldhook had given her she found that they were actually English translations of the older titles; having been translated from a variety of languages like Welsh, Gaelic, Latin and even Norse. This explained why they had similar sounding names seeing as English is descended from a number of languages including Welsh and Gaelic.

Not knowing anything about magic at this stage she chose a half a dozen or so books in English that included 'beginner', 'introduction', 'basic', 'novice' and the like in the title. The books covered a wide range of topics including magical theory, potions, rituals and warfare magic. When Goldhook saw her bag _Fundamentals of Ritual Magic_ he gave a sharp cough causing Athena to give him a pointed look.

"Yes?" she asked as politely as she could.

"I would suggest you don't attempt anything in that book without significant guidance," he said. "It would be slightly annoying to have to lock this vault back up again because the current Lady Le-Fay reduced herself to a puddle of ground blood, flesh and bone while attempting a reckless and harebrained ritual."

"Oh – well I don't intend to try anything in these books out," she replied after paling slightly at the results of a mucked up ritual. "I just want something to read. I really have no clue about magic right now or the _types_ of magic that exist. A little book that lists every field of magic and a description of it would be nice."

"So you intend to read broadly?"

"I would say so, yes," she replied before further explaining. "I didn't grow up in the magical world so I have quite the information deficit that many children who grew up magical don't have."

"True," he said with a sharp nod.

"Which lead to another question," she continued as she finished packing away her chosen books. "Does Gringotts offer a consultancy service?"

"Consultancy service?" he asked as he thought. "We don't have consultants' per-say in the muggle sense; rather we have _finders_ who track down people and items for customers. If you need an expert in something for example they would track down someone with the credentials or if you needed a rare book or item they would source it for you."

"That sounds about right," said Athena. "So Gringotts offers the service?"

"We do. Maybe it's best we head back up to my office; we need to discuss some things about the Le-Fay account anyway."

o0o0o0o

"So, last night all of the money from your new vaults was moved into the Le-Fay Vault," started Goldhook after Athena had taken a seat in his office. "This gives you a total of one-hundred and eighty thousand Galleons in free cash. I would recommend you invest it but before we do that I would like to get an idea as to what you wish to sell. If we exclude the priceless books in your collection we could easily have possibly two hundred thousand galleons worth of items."

"I won't be selling any of the books," said Athena firmly. "Unless there are duplicates at which I'll keep the copy in better condition."

"Very well," replied Goldhook. "Would you like Gringotts to organise the sale of these items?"

Athena considered this. On one hand she had no idea how to sell any of these items – she simply lacked the connections needed, on the other hand the goblins might rip her off.

"I'll have to see a list of items first I think," she said as a delaying tactic. "I may sell some myself and ask Gringotts to sell the rest – I'm not sure at this point."

"I can get you a list in two or three days."

Athena nodded as the goblin continued.

"Do you have any ideas on how you would like to invest this money?"

"I'll let you invest it at your discretion," she answered thoughtfully as she had no experience in the matter.

"Understood," replied Goldhook as he jotted down a note. "High risk, medium risk, or low risk investments?"

"Uh," she said as she thought it over for a few seconds. "I take it property is low risk and shares are high risk?"

"They are for the most part – though there are very low risk shares like those in property investment companies."

"I guess split it like the Potter Portfolio; a quarter on high risk, three quarters on low risk like property – it seemed to work okay for them for a long time."

"Very well, I'll start buying up shares as soon as we've got a rough estimate on how much we can work with."

Athena gave Goldhook a nod at that.

"So, you wished to discuss our Finders' Service?" he asked now the business of the vault was out of the way.

"Yes, I expect to use it a lot in the future," she said. "I like book and now that I'm reasonably wealthy I think I'll have to hire someone to track down rare books – but not right now. The more pressing issue is I think I'll need a tutor; someone who can tutor me in the magical world."

"That is understandable," he said with a nod.

"Also, I don't need them right now," she continued. "I will try to get by with some books but I would like one lined up so if I decided I need one I can arrange it quickly."

"Very well," replied Goldhook as he jotted down more notes.

"Hmm," hummed Athena as she thought. "As it's my money can you try to find someone who's not a snob who will demand etiquette and such? I'd just like the barebones navigating the magical world and politics."

"Politics?" said Goldhook with a little surprise as he added it to the list as well.

"Oh, I thought I mentioned that too," replied Athena apologetically. "It must have slipped my mind. But yes, I need to learn how to use my two Wizengamot seats."

"Anything else to add before I pass this onto Finders'?" he asked.

"Right now I just need a crash course in magical life. The person you find really just needs to be a normal magical that can run me through normal magical things with some political experience."

o0o0o0o

After confirming that Athena wanted Gringotts to find a normal magical with political experience that was quote '_not a snob'_ Goldhook finished the meeting so Athena left the bank and headed towards _Flourish and Blotts_.

Inside she found a rather significant deficit of books on magical customs and politics. The book – as opposed to _books_ – on magical customs was a novella sized manual written in an incredibly condescending tone while the only books found on politics were a book written in the style of a manual on protocols of the Wizengamot and a book on politics for aspiring Ministry of Magic employees.

Deciding the book on magical customs was still slightly useful despite its tone and size, and that Wizengamot protocol manual would come in handy in the future despite being the definition of dry she added them to her basket and moved onto other topics.

Deciding to compare her antique books with more modern text she searched out the section of rituals before giving up after checking every row. She was just about to ask the staff when she stopped herself and considered the matter; she didn't know _anything_ right now about the magical world. It was entirely possible that the topic was 'dark' magic as Hagrid had put it the day before – forbidden knowledge. She didn't need a text on the topic right now; she just wanted something to read so it wasn't worth the risk asking about it.

Moving on, Athena tried to track down the section on combative magic; once again no such section existed. Searching she found the closest approximation was _Defence Against the Dark Arts_ which she vaguely recalled was taught at Hogwarts – by that purple turban wearing man if she wasn't mistaken.

Ignoring the thought she skimmed the titles and found a very small selection of the books had titles similar to _The Arte of Combative Magick._ For the most part though the shelves were filled with books on what appeared to be rather innocuous magic like jinxes that caused your shoelaces to become tied together, broke you out in laughter or stinged you.

Coming to the conclusion her aging book probably wasn't anywhere near as innocent as the titles on the shelves she grabbed a few of the wordier titles and moved onto the sections for magical theory and potions. Finding they weren't so watered down she grabbed the introductory equivalents – surprisingly there wasn't an introduction to potions of the Hogwarts book list – and added them to her basket, before grabbing a few history books that took her fancy.

Book shopping done she paid for her books and retreated to the sanctuary of her room at the Leaky Cauldron to finally dig into them.

o0o0o0o

Starting with the school booklist Athena began to skim her books. She chose to initially skim rather than read as it would enable her to get over all of it quickly so when she read the book properly she could find references to words and other topics quickly.

Occasionally she would stop and read a page thoroughly; the first being in the _Standard Book of Spells (Grade One)_ when she found a few spells related to transfiguration. Rather than finding a whole swathe of spells transfiguring one thing to another she found the spells were concise – for lack of a better word – with nothing defining the exact object being transfigured, rather it was like; metallic object to metallic object, metallic object to organic object, metallic object to inorganic object and everything else in between.

To Athena this was perplexing. She had expected a topic that took up a whole subject line and was taught to seventh year would include a massive amount of memorising of spells. To solve the problem she picked up _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_ and rapidly skimmed to the page that discussed the use of spells.

'_That answerers my question,_' she thought as she quickly read the chapter. Transfiguration wasn't based on rote memorisation of spells for every conceivable transfiguration; rather it was based on a small number of spells that specialised in one particular area of transfiguration based on the material you began with and the material you wanted to transfigure too – the shape of the object was based purely on the willpower and intent of the caster. However it wasn't _that _simple; skimming to the next chapter it began to discuss how you needed to also _understand_ the changes that took place to undertake successful transfiguration. It would seem that those changes were the backbone of transfiguration lessons, something that probably got even more complex when you moved onto transfigurations that included elements of many different materials.

Closing the transfiguration book, Athena returned to the _Standard Book of Spells_ and continued skimming.

o0o0o0o

Having had a late lunch, paid for her room for another night and decided that she needed to stretch her legs Athena chose to go for a stroll down Diagon Alley – only this time she'd actually stop at any shop she wanted and take a look.

To her surprise, Athena found an antique book shop only a third of the way down the Alley – _Gladson's Antique Books and Auctioneers._ She was just about to walk in and take a look around when she stopped herself, deciding that she already had a massive pile of book in her room she hadn't finished yet and didn't need to buy more just right now – if she walked in now they'd probably have to kick her out to get her to leave.

Continuing down the alleyway she found _Sugarplum's Sweets Shop._ Athena may have been very reserved and not into 'sunshine and rainbows' as the front of the store suggested with its bright colours but it didn't mean she didn't like sweets when she could get a hold of them. When was the key word; she had only managed to get some a very small handful of times – the earliest she could remember was getting a lollipop from the optometrist when she got her first – and previous – glasses prescription. Regardless of those more unpleasant times she felt she could indulge herself a little now she had money.

As she reached the end of the Alley while munching on a range of sweets, Athena took a gamble and decided to loop around through Thatching Way and Market Street to arrive back at the Leaky Cauldron.

Thatching way wasn't all that interesting; just a jumble of Victorian style terraced houses – though they were much more interesting than the uniformed neatness of Privet Drive.

Market Street was much better in Athena's opinion; covered in the sights and smells of restaurants and the odd takeaway stall. Making a note to try something down there for a meal some day she walked back to her room in the Leaky Cauldron and continued to read.

o0o0o0o

It was very late by the time Athena put down her many books that night, so late in fact she almost missed the cut-off time for the serving of hot meals that required preparation.

Having skimmed both the required Hogwarts booklist and her own purchases after she got back she quickly came to the conclusion that many of her extra books really should have been on the required book list. For starters the required book _Magical Drafts and Potions_ solely covered the ingredients and preparation steps for the potions. It did not cover the steps required to prepare ingredients, it did not cover any safety information and it certainly did not include any potions theory explaining why things happened.

_The Potions Essentials Guide_ which she had picked up in _Flourish and Blotts_ and _The Secrets of Potion Making_ which she had found in the Le-Fay Vault did – though arguably _The Secrets of Potions Making _was a bit light on safety. The lack of such texts could be explained by the potions teacher wishing to explain it themselves but it seemed unwise to not include a hard text on the subject.

Still the topic was fascinating and certainly contributed to Athena staying up so late reading her books; the next being _The Fundamentals of Ritual Magic_ - a book which she had no modern references for.

The book started – and continued for another quarter of its length – with safety measures that consisted of graphic depictions and various explanations of how you could kill yourself using a ritual. Apparently nine times out of ten if a ritual failed it failed spectacularly; if you were really lucky though it would fail by simply failing to start.

After covering the various ways you could die the book moved on to the basics of rituals before moving onto practical steps like the correct location and then moving onto large swathes of very interesting diagrams covered in many symbols – runes to be precise – that didn't make any sense to her. Making a note to pick up some texts on runes and arithmancy she flipped back to the chapter on basics and read it thoroughly.

Reading, rituals could pretty much be described as sacrificial magic. Initial thoughts at the word sacrifice had led to the Aztecs and crazy cultists who sacrificed people; apparently that was partially right – rituals that involved the sacrifice of people did exist. But for the most part many of the rituals described weren't – well – _evil._ According to the book one of the most common sacrifices for the less powerful rituals was your own willingly given blood. The book further discussed the topic of good and evil rituals but clearly conveyed a tone of apathy on the subject.

Athena figured the writer was probably an academic who wished to remain neutral in his – she figured from the name of the author – writing as he discussed some rather unpleasant topics in a tone you might use to discuss the weather over tea.

Having blushed at the very graphic diagrams for tips on the willing sacrifice of virginity and finally closing the text at the disturbing diagrams of various forcibly taken sacrifices she put the book away and got ready for bed; hoping she might break her habit and get a bit of a lie in.

o0o0o0o

"Hello, Tom," greeted Athena half asleep as she was served breakfast the next morning.

She had managed to get some extra sleep that morning but it wasn't much and coupled with her late night she wasn't feeling her best at the early hour.

"Good morning, Ms Potter," replied Tom cheerfully.

Despite having seen him still working the bar the night before just as she was going to bed it seemed the man was still bright and chirpy in the morning – she wondered what his secret was.

"I think I'll have some coffee with my pancakes this morning, Tom," she asked.

Though she had never tried coffee before she had made it; Uncle Vernon drank lots of it while Aunt Petunia insisted on tea. The smell wasn't exactly great but she figured it might be the secret to sleep deprived mornings and figured she could give it a try.

However what Athena got actually smelt nice – she wasn't really sure why – and it went rather well with pancakes. Unfortunately it didn't wake her up nearly as much as she hoped as she retreated to her room to finish skimming through her books; all she had left was _A Muggleborn's Guide to Magic_ – the incredibly condescending book on magical culture, the wordier DADA – which she had already started calling 'Dee-Ay Dee-Ay' – books and _The Arte of Combative Magick _from the vault.

Reading _A Muggleborn's Guide to Magic_ Athena quickly came to the conclusion the book was rubbish; it was written like a book on how to breath. The book never surpassed the level of a kindergartener and talked of things that were the norm in the non-magical world like bathing regularly, being polite and eating with your mouth closed. In fact the book really didn't speak much at all on the topic of magic.

Having decided the book truly was useless and that she'd have to speak to Goldhook about that tutor she moved onto _The Arte of Combative Magick _and started skimming.

The book certainly was interesting but she wasn't sure she really needed to know the perfect spell for breaching the wall of a castle, immolating hordes of people in formation on the battlefield or conducting espionage in the lands of her enemies – at least not yet anyway.

The DADA texts were significantly tamer despite being what she assumed were the most advanced books on the subject available at Flourish and Blotts. Frequently in their pages were the spells described in _The Arte of Combative Magick_ but the book would only describe them, refused to describe how they were cast and simply told the reader their use was illegal with varying fines and lengths of time in jail as punishment.

Having finished skimming all of her books, Athena started reading them more thoroughly – starting with her school texts – for the rest of the day.

o0o0o0o

Athena woke the next morning and got ready – coffee in hand – for another trip to Gringotts. She had been told it would take about three days to get a complete inventory of her vault but it wouldn't be three days until that afternoon so it might not have been done yet.

Still, a trip to Gringotts broke the monotony of solid reading for twelve hours straight. Sure, she loved to read and consume every bit of knowledge she could get a hold of but eventually your brain gets frazzled from too much information and you need a break for a few hours or even a whole day.

Asking a teller to see Goldhook, Athena was directed to wait as Goldhook was in with another client.

"How do you handle having an extra account to manage?" asked Athena as she was finally let into the office and directed to a seat.

"That's what I was just discussing before I let you in," replied Goldhook. "I've pushed my smallest client off to another manager. They agreed quite quickly, seeming to want to get out of my office as soon as possible."

"Really?" she asked. "That seems a bit odd."

"Not really," Goldhook replied. "Most of my clients try to avoid my office as much as possible; it's pretty common across the board. I've probably seen you more times in just the last few days than I've seen most of my other clients in the last year."

"Uh-huh," said Athena as she thought it over before moving on. "So, is the inventory complete?"

"It should be done by now; though not everything has been examined thoroughly for curses yet – everything should be safe by this afternoon though."

o0o0o0o

Surprisingly the rapid cart ride down to the lower levels wasn't as thrilling as it had been the first time – though Goldhook wouldn't have noticed as she never really showed it. It did have an added bonus though; the cool cave air rushing past woke her up better than the coffee.

Entering the surprisingly ordered vault together they found Goldhook's deputy adding the final lines to the large ledger in the middle of the room.

"The ledger is rather simple to use, I just wish we had invented them a thousand years ago rather than a hundred – they really keep the vaults in order," started Goldhook as he turned to the start of the heavy tome. "The ledger is linked to the charms on the vault that tell us its gold balance so on the first page here it lists the current balance along with the number of items broken down into books and everything else."

Taking a look Athena could see it did indeed list a sum of one-hundred and eighty thousand, two-hundred and seventeen galleons, along with over two thousand items and one-thousand two hundred books before Goldhook turned to the next page.

"These are all the entries; they're split into books and 'other' and then sorted alphabetically, and include the date the item was added to the vault if known, value if known, and whether the item is hazardous.

"New entries can be added to the last page and it will be added to the list alphabetically automatically. Items can be removed from the ledger by running a line through the corresponding entry."

"I think I've got that," said Athena as she gave a nod.

Goldhook stood aside and let Athena skim through the ledger; skipping over the book list as she had already read it.

Skimming through the list she found quite a few things like swords, knives and armour were listed. Her initial thought had been to simply sell the lot as they probably were ineffective against magic and woefully ineffective against modern non-magicals. But then she though there may be some historical or heirloom items there that she could probably keep.

"Goldhook," she called out. "I was thinking I could point to things on the list and say it needs to be sold but I think I might need to examine each item individually here – the ledger doesn't give me enough information to make a decision."

"I thought that might be the case," he said gruffly, probably missing the comfort of his office. "Have you decided to ask Gringotts for help selling the items?"

"Maybe," she replied uncertainly. "May I ask you a personal question?"

"You may ask but I may not answer it," he replied.

"How much do you earn per year, on average?"

The goblin raised a single eyebrow at this in curiosity.

"It depends on quite a few things as I have many jobs around the bank that pay based on the work I do rather than the hours I put in and quite a bit of luck," he explained. "On a good year I might make eight thousand galleons, a bad year I may make considerably less."

Athena gave him a few nods as she thought it through.

"How much do you estimate is the stuff down here worth?"

"I believe I initially said two-hundred thousand once you've removed the invaluable items, but now after a more accurate inventory I'd put it in the two-thirty range."

"Alright, Gringotts will sell it and I'll give you… _two_ percent of everything made," she said.

"Two percent?" he sputtered.

"On top of whatever you'd get normally. I doubt I'll sell everything but that's still probably going to be at least three thousand galleons."

"Why?" asked Goldhook as he scrutinised her carefully.

"Think of it as an incentive to get the best price possible for everything," explained Athena. "Even if you only get ten percent more for each item on average I've still made eight percent more."

"You're strangely savvy for a human, let alone a child," he muttered as Athena began to inspect the swords listed in the heavy tome.

o0o0o0o

Though Goldhook was clearly interested in examining the many historical items in the vault he had to leave and work on more important things very quickly so he assigned one of the goblins who had helped inventory the vault help Athena go through each item on the list and decide if she wanted to keep it.

The Goblin, who was named Gambutte, regularly had to explain the purpose of many of the artefacts found in the vault to Athena who found the whole thing to be a great learning experience.

Deciding to cover the swords first, Athena chose to sell nearly all of them; only keeping two whose style and inscriptions suggested they may have belonged to Morgana and thus were family artefacts that she could never sell.

Every dagger and small knife remaining in the vault went too, though nearly half had been moved to the other vault because they were cursed or poisoned and would need to be examined later. This was followed by the half a dozen sets of plate-mail armour that Athena had no use for seeing as they were custom-made for the user and wouldn't protect her from anything magical or non-magical.

The day proceeded in a similar fashion where Athena would mark to sell large chunks of items while keeping a small number that held historical family significance.

"What's this, Gambutte?" she asked as she opened up what looked like a leather roll-up tool pouch.

"Ah," exclaimed the goblin as he fingered a number of the spanner sized objects covered in runes. "This is a set of tools a thief might carry."

"Oh," said Athena. "I guess that's not surprising though if my ancestors were in the process of trying to overthrow the government. How do they work?"

"Well…" he trailed off as he thought about how to explain it to an eleven year old. "Most homes are protected with magical wards that create barriers around one's home. Explaining simply; they pass magic through a person to – usually – cause harm to them and thus stopping their entry. What these taps do is activate the wards before passing the magic through the tap and safely into the ground. This either runs the wards dry so they no longer function or passes so much energy through the tap that the wards burn out."

"Huh, that sounds rather simple," mused Athena.

"It's a lot more complicated than that and there are plenty of countermeasures to them but when it comes to breaking simple wards taps are the easiest and most effective way."

In the end Athena decided to keep the ward taps; mostly because they were rather out-dated and a restricted item meaning they would have to be sold on the black market or through a Ministry approved method.

By five o'clock they had only made it halfway through the items in the vault and called it a day; deciding to come back tomorrow. And then there was the other vault filled with dangerous items – if she wasn't enjoying the learning experience it would be a long few days.

On the way out of the bank Athena dropped in on Goldhook and informed him that after reading the only book on wizarding culture in Flourish and Blotts she would need that tutor they had discussed.

o0o0o0o

Marking which items needed to be sold in the Le-Fay vault took another whole day and before long Athena found herself in the smaller vault that was once part of the twenty-three unclaimed personal vaults she had claimed. Thankfully there was only two-hundred items or so in it that were considered hazardous so it would only take them a few hours to sort out.

A good quarter of the items were what appeared to be vials of poison; each with a tiny faded handwritten label. Gambutte explained to Athena that they would be almost impossible to sell legally and that her only real options were to destroy them, keep them or sell them herself. As she had tonnes of space in the Le-Fay vault Athena chose to keep them.

Another good quarter of the items were the aforementioned daggers and knives. Despite the fact many were poisoned with illegal poisons and that the rest had cursed blades that were enchanted to cause wounds that resisted healing, caused excruciating pain or burned flesh as they cut they were – according to Gambutte – all legal… If they were part of an Ancient or Noble House's collection.

Gambutte recommended not selling them right away; rather in small lots because the market for them was very tiny. Athena wasn't so sure about selling them so they – like the poisons – were marked to be sent back to the main vault.

The other half of the stuff was mostly odds and ends with a few pieces of cursed jewellery mixed in; apparently the jewellery fell under the same laws as the knives. Athena chose to sell the cursed jewellery under the thought that people weren't going to run around throwing the jewellery at people to kill them as opposed to the poisoned and cursed knives.

"So what are they?" asked Athena as she looked at an identical pair of rune-covered black granite cubes.

Taking a closer looked revealed a small hole in the top which seemed to contain a small ball of fire.

"They're Fiend Fire Boxes," stated Gambutte simply.

_'Fiend Fire',_ thought Athena as she remembered where she had heard those words before.

It didn't take her long to realise it had been discussed in _The Arte of Combative Magick_. The author recommended Fiend Fire as a method for disposing of large congregations of troops such as troops in battle formations. According to the author Fiend Fire was a fire that fed on magic; the caster would supply the initial magic to produce and feed the Fiend Fire and then it would subsequently feed on other magical sources like witches and wizards, magical homes saturated in magic and magical artefacts.

"Is that Fiend Fire I can see inside of them?" she asked very cautiously. The book had also mentioned that Fiend Fire was probably one of the most dangerous spells in existence.

"Well, yes," replied the goblin slightly worried; he clearly didn't like being near them.

"Why?" asked Athena with a similar amount of concern.

"Why would anyone make them?" he asked to which Athena nodded vigorously. "It's – well – a weapon; a very effective weapon at that."

"Like a bomb?" suggested Athena to which the goblin nodded. "How does it work?"

"Well, there is a small amount of Fiend Fire trapped at its centre – I assume you know what Fiend Fire does?" he asked to which Athena gave an affirmative. "The black marble surrounding it is enchanted to become saturated in magic. When linked to an appropriate trigger the complicated bit of magic that contains the Fiend Fire at its core fails and the fire immediately starts consuming the enormous amount of magic contained in the marble. The marble then breaks down from the heat – dumping more magic into the fire - and the whole thing explodes."

"Oh," said Athena as she took a step back – what was described sounded significantly worse than she initially thought. "I take it this was designed to overcome the small problem of Fiend Fire killing the caster?"

"Oh yes," said the goblin, his face suddenly turning to glee at the thought of Fiend Fire killing its users.

"I guess this is another item I can't actually sell."

* * *

><p><strong>Sun-Tsu Toriden - <strong>Yes this will take a long time. I expect this fic will be at least 600k words. We should be at forth year by the 150k mark though as third year will be rather quick.

**Vangran - **I'm not really sure what you're talking about there with the 'weak-to-god!Harry' fics. I have no clue what that means and I've never seen it used before. I tried Googling it and all I got were sites claiming HP is Satanic.

**Ina Bauer - **It stated explicitly in the description that she's going to be a Slytherin.


	3. The Magical Magical World

**I'm rewriting large sections at the moment. Wait out**

* * *

><p><strong>The Venerable House of Le-Fay<strong>

**Chapter Three:**

**The Magical Magical World**

Having read all of her schoolbooks and the books she had removed from her vault Athena started trying out a few of the spells documented in _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade One_. The wand lighting charm – the very first spell Athena attempted – was remarkably easy; probably because it had no wand movement and the background reading was both simple and concise. The other spells were significantly harder to master; probably because she had no one else there to spot for her and make sure the wand movements were correct.

After several hours of trying out the unlocking charm to work on the door to her room Athena gave up and moved onto the fire-making spell – wisely casting it into the fireplace to avoid burning down the Leaky Cauldron. The fire-making spell was more difficult to cast that a simple _Lumos _– as she had taken to calling the wand-lighting charm – but it wasn't impossible as she was coming to conclude the unlocking charm was; only taking a few hours to have it down pat and spew a significant torrent of flames from the tip of her wand.

o0o0o0o

Goldhook had informed Athena that it would take at least six months to sell everything indicated and that it should net at least net one-hundred and fifteen thousand galleons for the Le-Fay estate. Seeing as the money for investment wouldn't be available for a few more months Gringotts offered to float Athena – or more precisely the House of Le-Fay – a loan of that amount. Given the security of the load they offered a very good interest rate so Athena accepted without too much hesitation; just enough to read the contract through.

Now, she was being led through the maze of Gringotts to a conference room where she could meet her new 'all things magical' tutor – no one really knew what to call these lessons at the moment.

"Athena Potter," introduced the goblin who had tracked down a tutor as she entered the room. "Meet Andromeda Tonks."

The aforementioned woman – a tall woman with light brown hair and a somewhat regal look to her – did her best to hide her shock at the introduction; clearly the goblin tasked with finding her had neglected to mention who the client was.

"Ms Potter," she said with a smile once she had finished processing the news while holding out her hand for a handshake.

Athena returned the handshake before gesturing to the seats provided.

"I must say, I haven't seen you since you were a baby," stated Mrs Tonks.

Athena stilled slightly.

"You knew my parents?" she asked.

"I did," she replied. "I'm the cousin of someone who was a good… _friend_ of theirs. I didn't get to see them after they went into hiding though."

Athena made a note to prod for more information there later but for now she should stick with the lesson at hand.

"So what are we going to be doing then, Mrs Tonks?"

"It's Andi – if your parents called me that then you can too," she said.

"Very well, Andi," replied Athena uncomfortably.

"As for lessons; could you clarify what you're after exactly?" asked Andi.

"I think starting with a crash course in magical life would be a good start; most other magicals my age have ten years on me. I have no idea what magicals do in their spare time, I have no idea what a magical home is like, I have no idea how they are raised and educated."

Only then did Athena realise she was breathing hard, was slightly angry and had said all of that with one breath; being raised outside – no, _with no knowledge_ – of the magical world was more infuriating then she had originally thought.

"We could do that," said Andi as she pondered what precisely they were going to do before writing down some ideas on the parchment placed on the table for note taking.

"I also need some instruction in politics and such for when I take up the Potter seat," she lied smoothly; Mrs Tonks didn't need to know about the Le-Fay seat for now – if ever."

"Hmm," she hummed as she continued writing down ideas. "We should be able to do some of that before September First. But covering politics could take a while so I think we'll have to continue it next year."

Looking up at Athena for confirmation she got a nod and continued jotting down notes.

"I'll need a day to get a plan written out, so why don't we start on Wednesday?" asked Andi.

"I can do that," said Athena in agreement.

"Alright then," said Andi as she looked over her notes again. "I'll send you a letter tonight with what books you need to get."

"I already tried getting some books on politics but couldn't find any," said Athena with a slight frown.

"Did you try in Flourish and Blotts?" she asked to which Athena nodded. "You won't find books on politics in Flourish and Blotts. You'll have to either mail the supplier or ask one of the book traders to get you a copy."

"Like Gladsons?" she asked as she remembered _Gladson's Antique Books and Auctioneers_ in the Alley.

"Yes, he would have it but I'd suggest asking by mail instead of going in and asking; Gladson is a bit of a grump and will dismiss you before you've even gotten a word in."

Athena took note of that with a scowl.

o0o0o0o

Athena received by post owl the next morning_ History of the August Wizengamot, Political Interactions of the Old Houses _and _Political Issues of Britain._ The three books had been considerably more expensive than anything she had purchased in _Flourish and Blots_ and of the three books only _Political Issues of Britain_ was brand new; the others had been second hand. The apparent restricted access to such materials was a gnawing thought in the back of Athena's mind and a question to raise at the start of her 'Wizarding Culture' lessons, as Andromeda Tonks had penned it when she received the books list.

Like many other days so far Athena had spent it reading only leaving her room for a short walk and lunch. Tom had spent her lunch time hovering around with the look of wanting to ask a question; possibly why she was still at the Leaky Cauldron and hadn't done home – thankfully he didn't raise the issue.

The day rolled by and with a good night's sleep Athena was waiting on the steps on Gringotts for her first lesson.

"I think we can work on the political side once you've read the books," said Mrs Tonks once the standard greetings had been exchanged. "So today we can go see some wizarding sights. I must admit I haven't done any of these since before my daughter went to Hogwarts."

Athena responded with a nod before asking.

"So where first?" she asked.

"Powys, Wales," she replied. "Britain's only dragon reserve is there; though it's not very big. They allow tourists to watch the dragons."

"Dragons… right," said Athena in mild disbelief. "I think I discussed this with Goldhook but am I going to encounter a lot of – uh – non-magical myth being true?"

"Hmm, I can't really say," she responded. "I could ask my husband; he was raised muggle so he could give a better understanding. I'm not really sure what muggles consider to be myth and fact."

"Understandable," replied Athena amicably.

"Now, for your first lesson you'll be learning to use a form of magical transportation."

o0o0o0o

Exiting the fireplace in a swirl of green flames and landing flat on her face, Athena was glad her new glasses came with unbreakable charms – '_were they really unbreakable or just break resistant?_' she thought – applied.

Mrs Tonks had initially led Athena to the Leaky Cauldron to use their fireplace but found another in the shop of someone she knew from school once Athena explained that Tom was getting suspicious and already had issues with her leaving without telling him where she was going.

Getting off the ground and brushing the fine white ash off her new clothes Athena looked around and decided that this probably was the pub called '_The Green Dragon_' that the dragon handlers liked to frequent based on the bench to roof painting of a bloody huge looking green dragon and the almost dinosaur like skull at one end of the bar.

To her behind the 'floo' flared green to life again and Mrs Tonks elegantly stepped out.

"Any tips on not falling flat on my face next time?" asked Athena once Mrs Tonks too brushed white ash off her clothing.

"You fall flat on your face because you're pushed out of the floo and your feet aren't moving," she replied with a small smile. "Walk into the floo and don't stop walking."

"Ah," she replied in understanding before gesturing to the bar. "I take it this is the place?"

"Yes, the Green Dragon, named after the Welsh Green which is a species of dragon native to Wales and the only species of dragon at the _Powys Dragon Farm_."

"It's a farm?"

"Yes, it's really the only way to keep a reserve running; sell off some of the dragons for hides and meat to fund the reserve. Dragon hide is incredibly resilient, the meat is a delicacy to the Goblins, the internal organs and blood are used in a number of magical potions and the heartstrings are used in wands."

Athena nodded in understanding remembering that Ollivander had handed her several wands with cores of dragon heartstring which at the time really didn't register.

"So, to the reserve?" asked Mrs Tonks.

o0o0o0o

"How come non-magicals never see them?" Athena asked.

The dragons at the reserve were apparently 'small', yet despite that claim they looked pretty big from Athena's perspective a few hundred metres away. Each of the half-a-dozen dragons at the reserve were green – per the name 'Common Welsh Green' – and about ten metres long.

"Well there aren't any truly wild dragons in the UK any more," replied Mrs Tonks. "These here are the only dragons in the country. They rarely decide to wander with the food available and if they do some of the keepers follow; ready to make any muggles that see them forget."

Athena hid her frown and held her tongue at that as she carefully watched the distant dragons fly about and laze in the sparse British – or maybe more correctly Welsh – sun.

With a few more questions directed at Mrs Tonks and one of the nearby dragon keepers about dragons in general, followed by a reading of the tourist information displayed detailing the varied uses of dragons they headed back to the Green Dragon and a good meal.

o0o0o0o

"So, where next?" asked Athena over lunch at the Green Dragon. The food served at the Green Dragon was typical pub fare; deep fried things and pies.

"Hogsmead," replied Mrs Tonks. "The only entirely magical village in the UK."

"Huh," said Athena simply as she considered the strangeness of it. Wouldn't they want more purely magical towns so they could practice magic freely? "So there are part magical towns?"

"More like towns where there are large concentrations of magical users," she replied. "Godric's Hollow – where your parents lived, Ottery Saint Catchpole, Hollyhead, Upper Flagley and Tinworth being the more major ones – though there are plenty of others."

"Godric's Hollow is where my parents lived?" she confirmed as she vaguely recalled Goldhook mentioning something about property in Godric's Hollow.

"You did too before that night," replied Mrs Tonks sadly.

"Can we – can we visit it?" asked Athena.

Andromeda thought that was the first time see had seen Athena act like someone her own age; a child. Athena – to her at least – always seemed to have a keen eye about her; carefully observing the world, asking her questions clearly and to the point, and generally giving of an air of being much older emotionally than she should be. But with that question she actually looked vulnerable for once.

"We can," she replied. "As early as tomorrow if you want."

Andromeda could see a small glimmer of both hope and sadness in Athena's eyes at that. The girls whole demeanour was something that troubled her; something that needed to be thought on.

o0o0o0o

Athena collapsed on her bed not long after dinner. It hadn't been until she arrived back in her room at the Leaky Cauldron that she had realised she was so tired. Trekking up and down Hogsmead was interesting but it wasn't much different from Diagon Alley only a bit quieter, so they had taken a stroll into the surrounding hills.

"One of the most amazing sights I ever saw was not long after I got off the train for my first year at Hogwarts," said Mrs Tonks as they took a short rest and surveyed the large valley that contained the distant castle that was Hogwarts, Hogsmead Village and a lot of forest. "I kind of feel like I spoilt it bringing you here."

Athena gave her a quizzical look at that not understanding exactly what she was talking about.

"It will make sense when you get off the train as well," she explained cheerfully.

Arriving back at the Cauldron through magical side they went their separate ways only for Athena to meet the blinding flash of an old fashioned camera after Mrs Tonks departed through the floo.

"Ms Potter!" exclaimed a man who was holding the offending camera. "I heard rumours you had finally decided to renter the magical community. Do you have any comments to make on the matter?"

Athena merely glared at the reporter before – with a quick glance at the bar to make sure Tom wasn't looking – walking out of the pub and into non-magical London; disappearing into the crowds of people who were most likely in search of a nightclub to waste away their summer in.

Aunt Petunia's constant irritating talk from the gossip magazines had firmly ingrained her desire to stay out of the tabloids and having the reporter know she's staying at the Leaky Cauldron won't help that so Athena quickly lost him in the crowd before doubling back and telling Tom she would like to have her meal in her room tonight.

Athena wasn't exactly sure why she was so tired. She hadn't done that much physical exercise today but it did feel like emotional tiredness. With some thought she came to the conclusion that it was emotional tiredness. She _had_ been thinking a lot about a few different things; it had finally hit her that the magical world wasn't the utopia Hagrid had preached – she already knew that but it had finally hit her that she didn't have a true escape from the Dursleys yet – and then there was Godric's Hollow.

The discovery of where her parents – or she – had lived weighed heavily on her thoughts; thoughts of what life would be if they were still alive. Then came the thoughts of how she would perceive the magical world if she had been solely raised in it. The thoughts had gone back and forth all day at every free moment.

o0o0o0o

Mrs Tonks – or 'Andromeda' as Athena was reminded the next morning – informed her that they would start on the Ministry and Politics the next day, but first today was another trip to see another mythical creature; apparently the Loch Ness Monster was a Kelpie – a sort of horse like creature that liven in and near large bodies of water.

The trip wasn't much different from the day before; travel to the location – this time by an uncomfortable if efficient method of transportation called 'apparition', see a magical creature and then go to find an early lunch.

Today's lunch was in a small magical café called _Holly's Cosy_. It wasn't truly catered towards serving meals but it was a nice break from the constant heavy meals served in the Leaky Cauldron and other pubs. And, the joint was cosy while avoiding crampedness.

"I'm going to take a look at those shops," said Athena who had finished her small meal and drunk her coffee before Mrs Tonks'.

"Do you want to company?" she asked.

The shops Athena was referring too were the three – apparently – magical shops they had passed from where they had apperated to Holly's Cosy. Really she just wanted to get out and think; thoughts of impending visit to the home of her parents were at the forefront of her mind.

"No, I'll be fine," replied Athena with a shake of her head.

It was just a short stroll past the apothecary – an apothecary that had nothing on the one in Diagon Alley which made Athena question how it stayed in business with rapid magical transport – and into the magical nick-knacks store that sold odd magical junk and books.

Athena browsed through the store for a while not really paying attention before grabbing a small and ancient book called _Exploiting Hogwarts Rules for Your Benefit_, paying for it and walking out the door.

"Hurry up, Ginny," said the impatient voice of redheaded boy with freckles as Athena exited the shop. "I don't want to babysit you for the errand mum gave you any longer than I have too. I want to get back to my game of Quidditch and away from these muggles as soon as I can."

"You don't have to be here, Ron," replied the girl – Ginny – who looked to be about Athena's age or possibly younger. "I can walk to the shops by myself."

"Yea – well mum said I had to escort you," replied the boy who was now clearly Ginny's brother.

Ginny scoffed.

"Like you could do anything to protect me," she replied dubiously. "And from what?"

"I have a wand! And you never know what might happen with these muggles."

Ginny scoffed again, only noticeably louder.

"Like you could actually do anything with it; you couldn't injure a fly! I saw you trying to practice that ridiculous spell Fred and George gave you on Scabbers."

"It's not ridiculous! Just because you're a dumb girl and don't understand it doesn't mean it's ridiculous."

"Let me guess," said Ginny in response as she raised a single eyebrow in question. "You handed over your pocket money to them for it?"

Even at a distance Athena could see the boy flush red at this revelation and before long he turned around and stormed off the direction he had initially came from. Meanwhile the girl just stood there watching her brother leave out of sight before giving a sigh and relaxing.

"I was under the impression you're supposed to keep magic a secret," said Athena as she decided to reveal herself; having walked up behind the girl as she watched her brother walk off.

The girl gave a small jump before whipping around to face the newcomer.

"Uhh," she replied unsurely.

"I'm already aware," said Athena in reassurance. "You're not going to get in trouble because of me."

Ginny was soon looking around in case anyone else had overheard.

"No one else was in earshot, but in future it would pay to be careful," continued Athena as Ginny reddened in embarrassment.

"Yea," replied Ginny with a sigh.

"So…" started Athena before confirming. "Your brother?"

"Yes," replied Ginny with a scowl. "He's convinced I need to be babysat all the time and that I can't do anything by myself."

Athena understood that, but she didn't actually _know_ it.

"Anyway, once mum's done shouting at him for leaving his 'poor vulnerable little sister' all alone in the big bad muggle world he'll be back having fun playing Quidditch and flying about while I'm suck buying food and doing house work," she continued with a hint of anger.

Athena merely gave Ginny a questioning look at that.

"Well if you want to delay getting back as long as possible you can hang out," suggested Athena. "Hey – uh – are you going to Hogwarts?"

Ginny's face fell slightly at that.

"Not for another year; Ron is going this year though," replied Ginny unhappily. "You?"

"This year," said Athena. Noticing Ginny's unease at that she distracted her. "I know all about broom flying, but what's Quidditch?"

Ginny instantly smiled at that and quickly dropped into a quick explanation of the game; the three Chasers and the Quaffle, the Beaters who protect their team from Bludgers, the Keeper who acts as goalie and the Seeker who end the game.

"Sounds brutal," said Athena with a chuckle.

Ginny laughed.

"Only if you're not quick enough," she said. "Of course there are players who have the weight to plough through everything and with body-armour can absorb hits from bludgers."

Athena smiled at the description before more carefully asking a question that had been bugging her.

"So you're not allowed to play?"

Ginny's expression hardened at the question.

"No," she replied shortly before softening, not wishing to discourage a newfound friend. "Pretty much all of my brothers' play or have played it – that's all six of my _older_ brothers. Charlie could have gone and played in the British League, while Fred and George are some of the best beaters seen in a long time at Hogwarts. The rest enjoy it as a casual game though Ron keeps saying he'll be playing for the _Cannons_ some day."

Ginny – who was now seated on a low stone wall at the side of the road gave calming breath before continuing.

"Most have no issue with me playing," she continued as he voice became laced with bitterness frustration. "I can't though; either because mum is convinced I can't do anything without my hand being held and that Quidditch 'isn't appropriate' for me to be playing instead coming up with more chores or lessons she singles me out to learn, or – well – Ron."

Ginny gave a sigh and was silent as she considered how to word it.

"Ron's the youngest of six brothers," she said carefully. "We're not exactly… well off. Everything Ron gets is something handed down from our older brothers while I get some new_ish_ things because – well – I'm the only girl in the family and… he resents it – I think."

"Like with having a wand?" asked Athena perceptively.

"Yea," replied Ginny uncomfortably. "Anything that he has that I don't… Well, I think you understand."

Athena nodded.

"Do you have any brothers?" asked Ginny. "Sisters, maybe?"

'_It was a good distraction while it lasted,' _thought Athena with a silent sigh.

"No, I'm an orphan," replied Athena with a twinge of sadness.

"Oh – I'm so sorry," said Ginny. "I didn't – "

Athena held up her hand in silence.

"You don't need to apologise," she said with a weak sad smile. "It's not your fault. I don't even remember them anyway."

Ginny just sat there in silence with a sad expression before something caught her attention behind Athena.

"Are you ready to go, Athena?" asked Mrs Tonks. "You were gone longer than I expected so I came looking for you. I did let me read today's Prophet though."

"Yea, I guess," she replied with a glance at Ginny.

"You're Athena Potter?" asked Ginny weakly as she made the connection which Athena cringed slightly at.

"Please, Ginny," said Athena awkwardly. "I don't want the first time I've ever made a friend my own age ruined by you becoming start struck. We had a nice normal conversation and I'd like to be able to do so in the future."

Ginny went red in embarrassment at that; it might have been a harsh statement but Athena was quickly learning fame wasn't her fancy.

"Sorry," she managed to sputter out. "If – uh – you're going I guess I should get on with the shopping I was asked to do."

Athena stifled a dejected sigh as Ginny made to leave.

"Ginny, wait!" she called out causing Ginny to look back. "Would it be ok if I wrote to you?"

It felt completely foreign to Athena to ask that; she had never had anyone to write too before let alone a friend – if this is friendship that is, or so she hoped.

Ginny gave her a nervous smile and nodded before she hurried off in embarrassment.

"That could have gone better," muttered Athena as she finally released her earlier held up dejected sigh.

"I'm sorry about that," said Mrs Tonks.

"It's ok," said Athena as she watched Ginny disappear into a supermarket.

o0o0o0o

It felt strange to Athena to be so tied up by thoughts she had trouble pushing away. Yesterday were thoughts of her parents and the town she and Mrs Tonks were standing in, today thoughts of the girl she had met.

Getting though life at the Dursley's – for her at least – meant being able to ignore many things – constant insults, constant complaints, threats, and _pain_ for example – but something irked her and she couldn't ignore these troubles.

"Do you want to visit the house?" asked Mrs Tonks.

_What_ house needed no description.

"Yes," she replied quietly.

In silence they walked up the street, past the many people out and about enjoying their summer and before long they stood in front of a small cast iron gate flanked by overgrown hedges.

"This is it?" she asked in a whisper to which Mrs Tonks nodded.

Athena stepped up to the gate and gazed at the house. One corner of the house – the upper floor – had been blown away leaving a gaping hole. It was then that she noticed the low sign behind the gate.

_On this spot, on the night of 31 October 1981, Lily and James Potter lost their lives. Their daughter, Athena, remains the only person ever to have survived the Killing Curse. This house, invisible to Muggles, has been left in its ruined state as a monument to the Potters and as a reminder of the violence that tore apart their family._

The sigh was covered in large amounts of graffiti; most of which were singing praises for her in thanks for defeating Voldemort.

"It's all silly, really," said Athena sadly, gaining Mrs Tonks' attention. "Everyone I've met makes it out to have been some valiant action on my part, but I was only a year old; I didn't make a conscious decision to do it."

Andromeda gave a small frown at that. It may have been true but Athena clearly didn't know what it was like.

"Maybe so," she stated carefully. "But you weren't raised in the time. So many people died and no-one knew who was next. Everyone was just relived to see the end of it – despite how it happened – and praise the one who saved them all."

"I'd much rather be known for my own abilities; not accidents," she countered. "I've already seen it in people; they see me as some valiant saviour. They expect the see a perfect role model – a white pure princess. They've all made up their minds about what I am yet none having ever spoken to me or sought me out."

Athena almost spat out the words by the end of tirade.

"All these expectations…"

o0o0o0o

The trip to the graves of Lily and James Potter was a quiet affair. Athena didn't say a word as she read inscription:

_The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death._

It was a cryptic comment; a comment that might make more sense with a search into the family history.

"I think that's enough for today," said Athena as she finally broke the silence, still staring at the graves of her mother and father.

"Very well," replied Mrs Tonk as she gave Athena's shoulder a squeeze causing Athena to give a slight – if noticeable – flinch and a grimace.

"Sorry," she said quietly as Athena walked along the path out of the cemetery.

So many things about Athena Potter were troubling to Andromeda Tonks.

o0o0o0o

Athena just lay on her bed in her room at the Leaky Cauldron that afternoon with more troubled thoughts clouding her mind.

She figured most young girls her age would be in tears at this stage if expectations were anything to go by.

'_Heh,_' she thought in a strange cloud of emotions that lay between sadness and dark humour. '_Everything comes back to their expectations for me. They're going to be in for a rude shock.'_

Athena pondered what exactly the magical public expected of her. A hero was clearly the centre of it but the question was what type of hero they expected? I was almost certain that whatever they expected was wrong. People were undoubtedly going to be… _unhappy_ with whom she actually is.

o0o0o0o

Athena met with Mrs Tonks – who once again reminded her to call her 'Andi' or 'Andromeda' – in one of the meeting rooms of Gringotts. These rooms were somewhat expensive to hire and were usually used for negotiations between houses or business negotiations between companies, but they would make a good room for lessons and the price didn't bother her

It didn't help though that she was very tired – a restless of night of thinking did that to you – and she desired a larger cup of coffee; making a note to track down a thermos or a magical equivalent.

"Goldhook did give me a basic rundown on this," said Athena tiredly as they dove into the lessons. "But there is clearly a lot more."

Mrs Tonks simply gave a single nod as Athena continued talking. She was clearly tired – which wasn't all that surprising considering yesterday's events – but she persevered and kept at the days lesson.

"Ok – so I knew the Minister of Magic is elected, but you're saying that doesn't mean they will stay Minister for long," she recited as Mrs Tonks gave confirming nod. "Two thirds of the Wizengamot is required to call for no confidence and have him dismissed even if ninety percent of the population voted for them."

"Yes," she replied.

"What a mess," muttered as she rubbed her tired eyes.

"It's been this way for a very long time," said Mrs Tonks with a shrug. "It's tradition."

Athena stayed her scoff at that.

'_Doesn't mean squat when it's just plain wrong_,' she thought.

The lesson had started with the structure of the Ministry and the Wizengamot. Later – Mrs Tonks had said – they would cover straight up law before moving into the interactions between houses and blocks like making deals and forging alliances.

Further descriptions of its structure lead to thoughts that the Wizengamot and the Ministry must be a breeding ground for corruption; there didn't appear to be any controls in place, one small group had an enormous amount of power and the whole idea of the Wizengamot judging themselves just didn't sit right.

"Want to continue this tomorrow?" asked Mrs Tonks that afternoon. "It's a Saturday…"

Athena thought for a second there as she counted in her head. It seems that without the comings and goings of her uncle to mark which days were weekends and which were work days she'd lost track of the days.

"I think in future we should take weekends off," suggested Athena. "I'll need a break at some point."

Mrs Tonks looked relieved at that; she too would like breaks.

"Monday then?" she asked optimistically.

"That sounds good."

o0o0o0o

Athena was back in her room once again gazing at the ceiling in thought. Thinking them over didn't give her a new spark of understanding that enabled her to stop being clouded by thoughts and possibilities

She wasn't entirely sure what to do now. She was however probably tired enough to simply fall asleep and get some restful sleep, but that would only be a temporary solution.

An outsider's opinion would help; she figured people would normally talk about problems with other people – she didn't really have anyone to do that with. There was Mrs Tonks but she didn't really feel comfortable with asking her at this point.

There was also the girl she had met yesterday; Ginny. But why would she listen? She wasn't a friend, was she?

'_Oh get a grip,'_ thought Athena to herself. '_You don't even know what a friend is!'_

It wasn't self-deprecation, just a fact. She really didn't know what a friend was.

Athena gave herself dry laugh and thought of how much of a social retard she was before getting off the bed and beginning to pace back and forth.

'_Just write the damn letter,'_ she thought. '_It might not solve your problem right now but it is a start, will help in the long run and there is nothing to lose from it.'_

Gaining the resolve to write to her… _friend_ she sat down at the small desk in the room and tried to write; a difficult task indeed with a quill.

"Fucking useless," she muttered as she inspected the writing. She had finally got a message that seemed right but it was hidden behind awful penmanship; giving her the task of copying it over to another sheet of parchment carefully so it could actually be read.

_Ginny,_

_How are you?_

_I'm ok myself. I've been spending a lot of time getting acquainted with the magical world; there are a lot of things to learn that I feel I need to catch up on._

_What have you been up to? When I said I'm trying to catch up I mean I'm really interested in hearing anything about the magical world if you're ok with telling me._

_I can make lots of free time if you're interested in catching up._

_Athena._

Reading over what she wrote, her only worry was that it was too forward, or that there is some strange wizarding protocol for sending people letters meaning everything she said was offensive somehow.

'_Do I really want a friend who's that stuffy though?' _she thought._ 'If they get offended by it then I guess I don't want to be friends with them anyway.'_

"Can you deliver this with only a first name and a town?" she asked her snowy white owl.

Hedwig – as she had named the intelligent owl – actually looked offended at that before sticking out a leg to accept the letter before flying out the window.

'_It's a start,'_ thought Athena as she collapsed onto the bad, skipped dinner and did her best to get some sleep.

o0o0o0o

Sleep that night was slightly more peaceful that night than the night before, though the morning brought a strange anxiety about the letter.

It was ridiculous – she knew it – but that didn't quell thoughts of a _friend_. The word still felt weird.

Deciding to read for the day, Athena grabbed a book from the pile gathered on the desk and decided to get a few chapters in before breakfast was served. Except the book didn't squash thoughts like usual probably because she had already read all of her books. So Athena made a note to return most of the books she had to the vault and grab a few news ones after breakfast.

One of the many goblin attendants led Athena down to the Le-Fay vault where she returned many of the books she had taken before retrieving some more; mostly on topics mentioned in the other books that she felt the need to do some background reading on.

Athena then proceeded to read for the rest of the day, starting with '_An introduction to Arithmancy_' and before long she was eating dinner in a back corner of the Cauldron with no reply.

To an unusual sadness there wasn't a letter the next morning as Athena resumed her usual reading along with some practicing of spells. However, as lunch rolled around there was some pecking at the window as Hedwig wanted to be let in.

It was a strange feeling to receive a letter. Her last – or more correctly few hundred last – she hadn't been able to open until it was hand delivered. A Hogwarts letter with its formal tone and standard layout really wasn't comparable to a personal letter from someone.

Nervously Athena broke the wax seal that seemed standard on magical-world letters and read.

_Athena,_

_I'm good; it's nice to get a letter._

_I haven't been up to much interesting; mostly I've been wandering my family's orchards when I have free time – I'm still not allowed to ride a broom._

_What do you want to know? I'm not sure what to tell you really about wizarding life._

_I wouldn't mind do something together but it will be difficult to organise; we'll see._

_Ginny._

To her own surprise Athena let out a sigh of relief at the letter; Ginny actually wanted her to write back – at least it looked that way, though the comment about meeting up seemed troublesome.

'_Maybe I was too presumptuous?'_ she thought. '_Or on the other hand maybe she's concerned about how her family would react?'_

It could be either way Athena decided, though she was inclined towards the latter from what she had heard Ginny discussing about _some_ family members, though she was clearly biased – and she knew it – in that respect.

Grabbing a piece of parchment Athena began to write a response. She wanted to ask more about Ginny's conflicts with her mother and Ron but even she knew despite how social retarded she believed she was that it was way too forward to ask at this time. Instead she suggested Ginny tell her about family such as what they do for a living or the things they enjoy. Athena assumed that Ginny would insert things about herself too.

Hedwig took the offered letter and seemed glad to have a delivery that was more than just to a shop down in Diagon Alley.

o0o0o0o

"I was hoping I could ask you a few questions," said Mrs Tonks as they finished up their lessons for Monday.

At that request Athena carefully scrutinised her. The request had been levelled very cautiously; in almost the same tone she used for some questions.

"That depends on the question," replied Athena coolly.

Andromeda knew it wasn't her place to be asking questions like this or probing into Athena's life like this but many things about her were concerning and she did at least owe it to Lily and James to get to the bottom of it.

Athena was unusually small for her age – James and Lilly had both been slightly above average height for their genders, she flinched at a touch, was incredibly reserved and was disturbingly perceptive for an eleven year old. Emotionally Athena reminded her of herself at that age in many ways – down to being an avid reader which she herself had used as an escape from her family; something that is common in pureblood children raised by strict and harsh families.

"What is your home life like?"

Athena twitched slightly at the question as she quickly covered her emotions; an act noticed by Andromeda.

This wasn't something she had been intending to discuss with anyone anytime soon and right now it seemed like a moot issue as she intended to never set foot in Number Four, Privet Drive again. However the suddenness of the question necessitated quick thinking and really didn't give much room to plan.

"I don't have one," she replied – it was technically the truth right now. "I'm living in the Cauldron right now."

It took a few seconds for Athena to realise that _really_ wasn't the best response to give. It was full of holes and could technically be seen as an admission of what Mrs Tonks was probably implying.

"You know it doesn't work that way, Athena," said Mrs Tonks with a sigh.

'_Maybe so,' _she thought in response. From the sounds of it she would be spending at least nine months, possibly ten, a year at Hogwarts. The remaining two or three months she thought could be spent in hotels somewhere; possibly moving every few weeks so not to arouse suspicion at why a young girl was by herself. Money really wasn't an object in that matter.

"I'm not some vagrant who lacks a means to support myself," replied Athena with a bit more coldness than she had intended. "There's no reason anyone who cares will notice that I spend my holidays living in a hotel."

"Are you really sure of that?" asked Mrs Tonks incredibly to which Athena didn't respond. "Let me rephrase it then; what was your home life like _before_ you moved into the Leaky Cauldron?"

Athena scowled. Mrs Tonks clearly had some ideas about what the Dursleys were like and they were probably reasonably accurate.

Vernon Dursley wasn't stupid despite what many people chose to believe. In reality he was simply very closed minded, xenophobic, intolerant, spiteful and hateful, but never actually dumb. He had been stupid he would have been in jail by the time Athena had reached primary school – though the possibility that he would be in jail earlier because she was dead also existed.

Because he wasn't stupid Vernon Dursley _knew_ what sort of things would get him arrested and what wouldn't – not that they weren't illegal just that they were easy to hide.

If Athena was ever hit they would be limited to areas that would always be covered by clothing. Objects that could possibly leave scars were out of the question – Vernon Dursley _really_ did not want his actions to come back and bite him a decade or more down the line, and his fists worked perfectly fine and a meat softener anyway. He also knew not to go overboard – doctors were after all trained to recognise abuse – though he occasionally would do so but it was never frequent enough for doctors to make the connection from her hospital record.

Her very low weight and small frame could easily be ignored with comments of 'her parents were rather small' and 'she's such a fussy eater, you know how children are'.

Petunia Dursley displayed apathy at Athena; only interacting with her when she wanted something done. Dudley was a blossoming thug; just like his father. But thankfully most of the locations that Dudley would encounter her were easily escapable at a run.

"Why is it any of your business?" asked Athena coldly not betraying any thoughts or feeling on the matter on the surface.

Andromeda ignored Athena's unpleasant vibe and countered.

"Your parents were friends of mine," she said. "I owe it to them to at least check up on their daughter's welfare."

Athena snorted at that.

"Why now? Why not five years ago? Why do you only care how I was treated now?" asked Athena through clenched teeth as she stood up from her chair.

That comment hurt and Andromeda didn't have an excuse for it.

"While I don't particularly like Dumbledore I did assume he would at least make sure you were in a safe home," said Mrs Tonks as she refused to look at Athena. "I should have at least checked up on you anyway – as one of your parent's friends. I don't have an excuse."

Athena took a few deep breaths as she brought herself under control; her emotions having betrayed her slightly, before collapsing on her chair again with a small 'thump'.

Andromeda gave a swallow before asking quietly.

"How bad was it?"

"Bad."

* * *

><p><strong>I answer some questions:<strong>

**[Name removed by request]: **My ANs aren't intended to bump up my word count. I simply have things I want to say (read complain about) and I also like to try and pre-emptively answer questions.

**Shinkicker: **the key word is 'average'. She's not the average eleven year old. She's supposed to be smarter than canon and her experiences have made her somewhat cautious when it comes to the negatives sides of people. As for 'a family of terrorists' she's a pragmatist. She's not going to pass up the power, money and knowledge that comes from it because they may or may not have (history is written by a highly biased and corrupt Ministry after all) been true.

Anyway, she still has a lot of growth. In this chapters you saw she's completely socially retarded when it comes to making friends and such so she's not perfect. She had other flaws to. Talking business and being direct she can do. Figuring out 'friends' is much harder.

**Riceb0x:**Well we don't really see much of the goblins in canon so I'm going to make an educated guess here and say if you're polite to them and are filthy rich they'll treat you amicably - it's just bad business if you scare away every single customer. Goldhook probably also has a soft spot for her with her craftiness.

**Alexfr36:**'It's me or Ron is a little... mugglephobic ?' Well yes. He's a dumb eleven year old who spends lots of his time reading 'Malvin the Mad Muggle' and possesses an amazing amount of ignorance for non-magical culture.

**Spartan-G257:** No, she's not Athena reincarnated or something. It's just author illusion with a name.

**Please leave a review, favourite and follow.**


	4. Knockturn Alley

**I'm rewriting large sections at the moment. Wait out**

* * *

><p><strong>The Venerable House of Le-Fay<strong>

**Chapter Four:**

**Knockturn Alley**

'_In for a Penny, in for a Pound_' might have been the right proverb at this moment. Mrs Tonks already knew something had happened to Athena and the simple phrase '_bad'_ along with the tone conferred how bad it really had been growing up in the Dursley household. She wasn't likely to give up now.

"What exactly are you planning to do about it?" asked Athena despondently, cutting off Mrs Tonks ensuing clarification.

"Get you out of there."

"Why?" she replied. "I already said it but I don't plan on darking their doorstep again. I have ten months of excuses not to be there per year and I can find another two months somewhere. It's not like the Dursleys will mind in the slightest."

"That's not the point," replied Mrs Tonks with a sigh. "Someone could find out you're not there and force you back into that environment. Not to mention you're _eleven_."

"I've been looking after myself all my life," stated Athena. "I can keep looking after myself."

"And if you're discovered?"

Andromeda knew she was pushing it here and could easily lose this small but well paying job that nicely supplemented her small potions making business. But she couldn't just let this slide.

"How am I going to be discovered?" she asked back.

"It's going to be pretty obvious something's up if spend all summer staying at the Cauldron!" Mrs Tonks shot back as she suppressed her slight anger at Athena's stubbornness. "There are plenty of people who keep their eyes out and would want to know more when they discover the _Girl-Who-Lived_ is spending all of her time in a pub instead of with her family. They could easily try and get guardianship of you once they poke around and find your family aren't suitable."

"And what happens when we try and changed my guardianship now? _Hmm_?" Athena shouted back before calming down and controlling herself. "I've been listening to you for a week now teaching me about the Wizengamot. Who do you think my guardianship _will_ be given too if we open up a custody regarding me?"

Andromeda paused before speaking.

"They very people who would get it if they found out you're living at the Cauldron," said Mrs Tonks quietly.

That was it; she'd blown a job and the only contact she'd had with a dead friend's child.

"I'm not going to be staying at the Cauldron," said Athena equally quietly. "There are plenty of places to stay in London and they won't ask too many questions with the money I'll be spending – I think."

Andromeda nodded. It was something Athena had quite a few months to consider at least.

"Can you at least get checked over by a healer?" asked Mrs Tonks.

"A healer?" asked Athena with confusion. "Is that some sort of doctor?"

"Uh – yes, I believe."

"Okay, then," said Athena with a sigh.

o0o0o0o

Andromeda was relieved. Both that she hadn't been sacked from her job as a tutor for Athena and in that Athena didn't protest seeing a healer.

Andromeda made a pretty decent salary making potions – usually large batches of the more simple potions that many of the potions masters saw themselves above making – but the tidy sum she was being paid on top of her potions combined with Nymphadora soon leaving home meant that she and her husband – Ted – would now be quite comfortable.

Now though the problem existed of finding a healer who could be discreet. Thankfully her decade of making potions meant she knew a few people leaving it to her to simply choose the most discreet.

"I should have a healer worked out by tomorrow."

o0o0o0o

_Athena,_

_There hasn't been much to do other than listen to Ron prattle on. _

_Funnily enough one of his major topics of discussion is you. He keeps bragging that he's (somehow) going to be your best friend and together you'll be in charge of Gryffindor House. I don't know where he's been getting these ideas but it's pretty funny to me seeing as he's never even met you before._

_Being stuck with just mum for company all day for most of the year is going to suck. I used to hang out a bit when I was younger with a girl who lives on the other side of town but I haven't seen her in a while._

_Ginny._

Athena had been sending and receiving letters to and from Ginny every one or two days since their first correspondence. At first Athena thought her letters felt a little bit 'stiff' but after a few times back and forth she quickly settled into letter writing between friends – though she still had some small doubt that wasn't what it was.

Still, Athena got a small chuckle from the comments about Ginny's brother and was a bit puzzled about how Ron was making these predictions.

Ginny's comments about her mother were again puzzling and had followed similar comments in previous letters. Clearly Ginny had a problem with some family members which was something Athena could relate too though she found it interesting that the problems lay with her own mother and one of six of her older brothers.

Getting off track at her thoughts Athena pushed it away with the assumption that if she kept writing to Ginny she'd get a clearer picture and began to compose her response.

_Ginny,_

_That is pretty funny and I have to wonder where he got that idea. How does he even know I'm going to be a Gryffindor? I don't think I'd want to be friends with him anyway from what I saw and have heard._

_As for being stuck at home, I promise to keep sending regular letters through Hogwarts. I'm pretty sure that's what friends do. That should alleviate some of the boredom with being stuck by yourself. Who's this person you used to know?_

_Athena._

Looking over her letter Athena was pretty sure Ginny would react to be called a friend positively but that didn't stop a niggling doubt in the back of her mind.

Happy with the letter she gave it to Hedwig to deliver.

o0o0o0o

Athena sat across from the healer in lime green robes in one of Gringotts' many conference rooms. Mrs Tonks had decided that the best place for her to get an examination was here rather than in a hospital where anyone could spot her and start asking questions. Mrs Tonks had assured Athena that the healer was very professional and would be discreet – supposedly this was the lady called when the rich and famous want something checked without being hounded by reporters or speculated on in the tabloids.

The healer in question – Janice Northwood – was currently examining the notes she had made while casting a number of spells on Athena all while making disapproving noises at her findings. Thankfully the woman seemed no nonsense and didn't seem the type to beat around the bush when she gave her final diagnoses.

"I think that's all," said the healer as she finished with her notes. "Getting down to business; you're in the second lowest height group for your age, you're in one of the lowest weight groups for your age – though you did say you're eating properly _now_, and you seem to be in a habit of fracturing ribs…"

Healer Northwood gave Athena a piercing look as she said that and left the comment hanging.

"Is there something that can be done?" asked Athena.

"Yes, for the most part," she said carefully. "Getting at this before you started the more physical aspects of puberty is the saving grace really and with the right potions and good food you won't be too much of a late bloomer – as they say."

Healer Northwood flipped through her notes again before continuing.

"You may have difficulty conceiving children – though it won't be impossible – but I doubt you're too worried about that right now?" she asked ambiguously.

Athena didn't feel the need to answer that as the healer moved on. Children were something she had never considered. Maybe if she had grown up like a normal girl she might have thought at one point she'd marry a prince someday and had at least considered it at one point but it had never really crossed her mind.

"As I said, with the right potions you should be ok. You will probably end up slightly shorter than average but we can easily get you up to the right weight. I'll give you a list of required potions and their doses but if you have trouble with them or they're not acting fast enough send me a letter and we'll see about something stronger."

Athena nodded before asking.

"So where would I get these?"

"Any of the potions shops in Diagon Alley would have them, Andromeda –" she said with a nod to the door and Mrs Tonks waiting outside. "– also makes them and the custom brewers would also make them but they would overcharge you a lot for these relatively cheap potions."

Mrs Tonks had asked Athena if she wanted her to accompany her for the exam but Athena had declined. She didn't feel like she needed a holding hand for a check-up.

"Thanks," said Athena as the healer finished up and made to leave. "Payment's at the front counter."

On her way out Healer Northwood made some small talk with Mrs Tonks before leaving.

"Did it go okay?" asked Mrs Tonks.

She knew the results weren't going to be good but she thought what she said was better than asking 'how bad was it?'

"Okay," she said with a shrug as she didn't feel the need to discuss it. "Are you able to get me these potions?"

Mrs Tonks took the offered list and read it over. One of the potions listed was a common potion designed to make the body store fat, another was to accelerate the growth of growth plates in the bones, while the rest were a number of nutritional potions.

"I can get these," she said.

"Thanks," said Athena before leaving.

o0o0o0o

It was only a week and a half before Athena would board the train to Hogwarts. Ginny kept sending letters and had called Athena a friend to her relief, lessons continued with Mrs Tonks, and Athena still had to occasionally dodge reporters – though it seemed they had finally figured out she was staying at the Cauldron making it more difficult.

Today, after a lesson on custody in relation to heirs and heiresses of Ancient or Noble Houses – Mrs Tonks had decided it would be a good idea to cover it considering Athena's own precarious situation – the pair sat down in a café for lunch in Market Way.

"Been in contact with the young Weasley girl?" asked Mrs Tonk – who still asked to be called Andi or Andromeda – curiously.

"Hmm?" said Athena distractedly looking up from the free Prophet they offered in the Café. "Weasley? How did you know she's from the Weasley family?"

Athena thought the Prophet was an awful newspaper – probably worse than the tabloids that Aunt Petunia read – but it was the only major daily newspaper available – apparently – so she didn't exactly have much in the way of variety available to let to get some news about the magical world.

"Safe bet," replied Mrs Tonks. "The Weasley family lives outside Ottery Saint Catchpole, and they're all redheads."

"I guess the magical world is small enough you can guess someone's family name just from that, isn't it?"

Mrs Tonks nodded as she sipped her tea.

"What do you know about the Weasley family?" asked Athena.

Mrs Tonks paused in thought for a few moments before speaking.

"If you were to ask around the Ministry many would tell you they have more children than they can feed," she replied carefully. "Not to say having seven or eight children is bad but it _is_ true they're not very wealthy."

"Seven children," corrected Athena to which Mrs Tonks nodded her head and took another sip of tea.

"They're an Ancient House but because they're broke they have been censured for nearly two centuries I believe. Subsequently they don't have a head because the head would need to assume responsibility for any debt owed by the house. The de facto head though is Arthur Weasley after his father – Septimus Weasley – passed away… two years ago I believe."

Athena thought as she processed the information before deciding to try and get an answer to a question that has been bugging her.

"What do you know about Arthur Weasley's wife?" she asked.

Athena head heard quite a bit about many of the Weasley family's members. Arthur Weasley – Ginny's father – headed some office at the Ministry dealing with _muggle_ objects, Bill Weasley – her oldest brother – was an apprentice curse breaker at Gringotts in Egypt, Charlie Weasley did something with Dragons in Eastern Europe, Percy Weasley was one of Hogwarts' new prefects and a bit stuck up, the Twins – Fred and George Weasley – we're notorious pranksters at Hogwarts, and finally there was Ron whom Ginny had difficultly saying anything particularly flattering about. But she hadn't heard much about Ginny's mother - not even her name – besides a rare comment about how she hated being stuck with her and not at Hogwarts, or how she makes Ginny do all the 'girls' chores.

"Molly Weasley; she was a Prewett originally – the Prewett family was nearly wiped out during the war and they're not Noble or Ancient," she replied. "Molly was a few years ahead of me at Hogwarts. I didn't know her very well – or not at all actually – but I know she was a Gryffindor and very opinionated."

Athena frowned; it wasn't much to go on.

"Why do you ask?"

Athena wasn't sure how much she could say here.

"Ginny doesn't talk about her much," replied Athena carefully.

"Very well," replied Mrs Tonks no prying any further.

She knew there was probably more too it but it wasn't worth pushing her luck.

"So do you have everything for school?"

Athena thought it was an odd topic but chose to humour Mrs Tonks anyway.

"Yes, I think so. I have everything on the list and a bit more."

"Oh? What extra things did you get?" asked Mrs Tonks.

"The more advanced potion tool kit," replied Athena before continuing. "I also got an enchanted book bag, some casual clothes, quite a few extra books…"

Athena trailed off as she tried to remember everything she had bought.

"Got a wand holster too – I don't know why that isn't on the required list," she said as she remembered everything she had bought – it had been a few weeks ago. "That's everything I think."

Mrs Tonks nodded at the rather sensible things Athena had purchased.

"So you like reading?" she asked remembering Athena had mention a lot of books.

"I do," replied Athena. "And now I have the money I'll quite happily buy any book that takes my fancy. Though it's hard to get any decent books; Flourish and Blotts has a really poor range and Gladson's is difficult to deal with."

"True," agreed Mrs Tonks. "Most of the good books are sold behind closed doors anyway."

Athena silently raised a questioning eyebrow at that.

"Quite a few books are restricted or banned – for most people that is," she explained. "I remember my old Head of House used to buy books down in Knockturn Alley. Now, we were allowed to own any books we wanted because we were a Noble and Most Ancient House; but they still didn't like selling them in the open."

"I take it you weren't always a Tonks?"

Mrs Tonks gave a bit of a laugh at that.

"No, I was a Black," she replied. "I was cast out though for marrying a muggleborn."

"Oh."

"Yes, I was in an arranged marriage and made the decision to elope instead."

"Are… are arranged marriages common in the magical world?" asked Athena uncomfortably.

"Hmm – not really," replied Mrs Tonks with a shrug. "The Blacks were probably the last family to routinely use them – though many families will occasionally still use them to deal with 'problem children'."

"Thank God for that," muttered Athena – she doubted her parents would have decided she was a problem child at only one year old. "I would hate to be in an arranged marriage."

"Yes, that's why I did what I did. I didn't exactly want to be kicked out of my family but it was better than being married to that –" Mrs Tonks left her sentence unfinished with a small cough.

"So if I wanted decent books I would just have to go into Knockturn Alley?" asked Athena getting back to what they were discussing.

Mrs Tonks shifted uncomfortably at that.

"Knockturn Alley… _really_ isn't a place a child should be seen unaccompanied – let alone The-Girl-Who-Lived," said Mrs Tonks carefully. "It's not particularly dangerous during the day with MLEP around –"

"Em-lep?"

"Magical Law Enforcement Patrol," explained Mrs Tonks. "But it wouldn't be seen as right for someone like you to be wandering down there."

"Right," replied Athena.

"Yes…"

"Were you were down there as a kid?" asked Athena.

"With my parents or other family members," she replied. "It helps when your family was considered the darkest of the dark. No one really bats an eyelid at it then."

"Hmm," hummed Athena unhappily.

"I've been teaching you the political game, Athena. If you make a habit of being seen down there you'll start having difficulties with people who would normally be your allies. They'll get the wrong idea and it's very hard to shake."

Athena gave a sigh in resignation.

"Very well."

Athena went back to her paper as Mrs Tonks order another tea. However it wasn't long before Mrs Tonks broke the silence again.

"Have you got any bras?" she asked.

Athena looked up from her paper and gave Mrs Tonks a questioning look at that to which she responded with a small shrug.

"You might not need any now but with the potions you're on you could very easily need one in the next ten months," she said as she explained her _unusual_ question. "You will have trouble getting one if you need it if you're at Hogwarts."

"No," replied Athena as she thought embarrassing the question was.

"Well we should probably make an outing to get a pair."

Unable to fault the logic Athena agreed with an embarrassed sigh.

o0o0o0o

In some respects bra shopping wasn't nearly as bad as she thought it would be. On the other hand it was still awkward.

First was that Mrs Tonks suggested buying a pair in the non-magical side of London. Unsurprisingly the magical world was rather conservative in that respect and thus they didn't offer the most diverse or comfortable selection. Athena wondered how a pureblood witch knew of this until Mrs Tonks explained she had learnt all about the wonders of non-magical lingerie from her husband's non-magical older sister after they were married.

Secondly was that there wasn't exactly much fitting to be doing seeing as there wasn't anything to fit a bra _too_ at this point. The young lady in the shop didn't give Athena much of a second glance with the explanation that she was going off to boarding school.

An awkward fifteen minutes later saw a slightly embarrassed Athena leaving the store with a bag in hand followed by a smirking Mrs Tonks.

o0o0o0o

Having finished the day's lesson early – they had taken a trip to see a few Arthurian historical sites with made Athena internally chuckle – Athena took a stroll down Diagon Alley. The problem of books was still bugging her as she considered the options for venturing down Knockturn Alley.

If she went down there it would be splashed all over the papers – that was a given. Going disguised was also an option but it would be pretty obvious she was a child given her height unless she could pass herself off as one of the many magical creatures she had seen about but that required her to find a short and somewhat feminine creature to disguise herself as.

A hooded cloak – remembering what Goldhook had said about the Le-Fay family in the past – might work assuming it wasn't considered unusual in Knockturn Alley. A balaclava might work too but she thought that would probably stand out too much. All of this would work better at night but supposedly it wasn't safe at night and the store would be unlikely to be open.

With some thought Athena decided that the best way to go about it was to look like everyone else in Knockturn Alley so she didn't stand out, and not show her face. Hopefully they were one and the same in that Alley.

With a plan in mind Athena sought out a hooded cloak to wear. Most of the clothing stores in Diagon Alley seemed to stock them so in no time at all she head selected a dark woodland green cloak while passing over all of the lavishly coloured and bright cloaks.

By the time she had made her decision and bought the cloak the shops were closing so Athena headed back to the Cauldron with plans to get her final item tomorrow as it was a Saturday and go for the venture into Knockturn.

The next morning Athena snuck out of the Leaky Cauldron and in to non-magical London to procure the other item she needed. On the news on the Dursley's TV she had seen many news reports from places like Afghanistan and in many of the reports soldiers wore these elastically fabric things that covered their mouths and noses to help conceal their identities. Athena didn't know what they were called but she assumed she could get one in an army surplus store to further conceal her identity.

Like the cloak, the 'stretchy things' weren't hard to find and she discovered they were actually called 'Buffs'.

'_What an odd name,'_ thought Athena before pushing it out of her mind.

Sneaking back into the Leaky Cauldron – something she was becoming quite adept at – wasn't difficult and now the only issue to work out was where she could don the disguise. Being caught wearing the disguise as she left her room would negate everything she had worked for.

Ideally they would have public toilets in Diagon alley, but they didn't – a major inconvenience in more than one way. So Athena settled for using the public bathroom in the Cauldron change, before waiting twenty minutes so no one associated her with the figure that would leave.

Leaving one of the stalls Athena checked herself in the mirror; with the hood up and the 'buff' covering her face you couldn't tell who she was – let alone her gender or species. Only her hands gave anything away and possibly – if you looked very closely – you might get something from her eyes and the small strip of skin visible but the shadow provided by the hood made that difficult.

Getting into Diagon Alley Athena quickly noticed people would just give her a quick glance before avoiding her completely. Nobody wanted to know what she was up to and that suited her perfectly fine for her current goal.

o0o0o0o

It didn't take long for Athena to reach the intersection that marked Knockturn Alley. Thinking it was best just to watch for now, she leant against a nearby brick wall and waited.

It was quite consistent the types of people going in and out Knockturn Alley. A few odd persons strolled down the lanes like they owned it, while most were like her and doing their best not to be seen. Unfortunately they usually moved with purpose and didn't linger; which would make it difficult to browse the stores offered.

Feeling confident she could at least walk down the Alley without standing out she broke from her place of observation and took her first steps into Knockturn.

_'Knockturn Alley isn't much different from Diagon Alley,'_ thought Athena as she did her best to look with purpose while checking everything out. '_No kids though, and less brightly coloured. There are similar shops though._'

Most of the stores seemed to be around selling potions, their ingredients and assorted knickknacks – almost like magical pawn shops. There were also quite a few pubs and what Athena suspected were brothels or strip joints. There was even a bookmaker; a place that takes bets. But there didn't seem to be any dedicated book stores.

Just then, Athena realised she'd be paying too much attention to the stores and not enough to the people around her. Taking a quick glance around confirmed no one was giving her much attention but she did notice there were a few people – women she guessed from their body-figures – that were wearing either balaclavas or what appeared to bandages to hide their faces.

'_At least being covered up isn't too odd here,'_ she thought.

Having now reached the end of the Alley to find another pub without being abducted or cursed, Athena felt comfortable going back down the Alley and enter her first shop. There hadn't been an actual _book_ shop but there had plenty of shops that would probably sell books.

_Borgin and Burke: Established 1862_

_Borgin and Burke's_ was the first store Athena had found as she made her way back up the Alley. Looking through the dusty window Athena could see it sold practically everything; books, jewellery, knives, furniture and even a hangman's noose.

Deciding this will be good as any for a place to find decent books Athena pushed open the door causing a bell to ring and entered the dusty shop; immediately footsteps would be heard on the wood floor of the shop.

Deciding it was best to look like she knew what she was doing rather than looking like a lost child Athena quickly made her way to one of the haphazardly scattered bookshelves.

"Are you looking for something?" said an oil voice behind her, causing her to give a slight jump.

Athena turned carefully to face either the shop assistant or one of the proprietors; a man who looked in his fifties – though from what she had heard physical age can be deceiving when dealing with magicals, had slicked back hair as oily as his voice and many discoloured teeth.

"Books – if you happen to have more stashed somewhere that is," replied Athena in the most confident voice she could muster.

Athena only realised then how jumpy she actually was in Knockturn Alley and wished desperately that the position of the book shelf didn't require her to turn her back to the oily man.

"I may," he replied carefully. "What is it you're looking for?"

"I'll see if you have what I'm looking for here first," she replied equally carefully.

The man didn't seem very jumpy for someone who supposedly worked in the shadiest part of magical Britain.

'_Maybe he thinks he's untouchable?'_ she thought.

Seeing as there was a counter and a maze of knickknacks between them, and he didn't seem concerned by her presence in his shop Athena turned back to the shelves and pursued its titles.

While Athena was looking over the titles and occasionally comparing them to what she had on the list Goldhook had given her several weeks ago, Mr Borgin was trying to decide who was in his shop.

He had initially thought it might be a rather thin goblin under the cloak – he didn't _like _goblins per-say as a pureblood supremacist at heart but he wasn't averse to selling to them when they had coin – but the voice was a dead giveaway that the person in the dark green cloak was not a goblin.

Not soon after he had noticed the hands sticking out of the cloak; human hands. Borgin then began to consider what magical creatures take the form of a short humanoid with a feminine voice. Dryads and Water Nymphs came to mind but both shunned clothing and rarely left their rivers or forests he remembered. On top of that they had no purpose really in a shop of material objects.

"Ah," he muttered quietly in realisation causing Athena to pause and look over her shoulder at the man before returning to the shelves.

_Polyjuice_.

It was a good disguise he admitted. Due to its nature it wasn't unheard of for people to shop in Knockturn Alley under polyjuice potion. Though this was the first time he had heard of someone disguising themselves as a child. It was ingenious really he thought; no one really paid attention to children.

It was about this time that Athena began removing a few titles from the shelves before taking the stack to the counter; having decided what she wanted and crossed off titles she already had.

"So do you have any more?" she asked from under her hood.

"I may, but why should I sell them to you?"

Athena rolled her eyes at how difficult this was going to be. Mrs Tonks had told her that the banned books list didn't apply to someone of her… _stature_, but if she wanted to go the easy route she would either have to identify herself as a Athena Potter or Lady Le-Fay. Doing neither of those things meant she had to convince this man that she was worthwhile.

"How much are all these books going to cost me?" she asked, not choosing to answer his question just yet.

The greasy man grunted as he turned the stack of books around so the spines faced him. He then proceeded to compare the books to a ledger he had.

"Two-hundred and thirty galleons," he said having added up the total.

Athena ran it through her head and figured it out that it was about twenty galleons a book with a total of eleven books. Considering she thought she paid about twenty galleons all up for all of her school books plus the extras she had bought it was a lot for just eleven books.

Deciding it was better to build up a 'relationship' – a disgusting thought considering the man before her – with the man first than to save a few galleons Athena agreed to the offered price and scooped out two-hundred and thirty tiny gold coins from her money bag.

"If you had a wider variety I would have spent more," said Athena with a jingle of her coin bag.

The man gave a huff before conceding.

"Fine," he said impatiently. "Pick what you want from the ledger and I'll bring it out to you."

The man then put another – smaller – ledger on the table, opening it and flipped it around so it was facing the right way around for Athena to read it.

Athena wasn't going to push her luck. She figured the man was meeting her half-way as to protect his assets. He technically hadn't handed someone who – for all he knew – wasn't supposed to have such books such as this and would probably expect the money before bringing the books out.

The ledger didn't contain what she expected; Athena had expected nearly every book to be about magic. Instead she found that a good portion of the titles were actually political in nature, some seemed to be history books and some even seemed to be diaries and journals.

"Are these all restricted books?" she asked.

"A few are valuable antiques," he replied which technically wasn't an applicable answer to the question asked.

The key words were '_a few' _thought Athena. Most of these are just banned books, not antiques.

Making a decision, Athena selected five books on the list with the intention of coming back in a few days for some more. One of the books was on alchemy, two seemed to have very contentious political titles, another one was a history book, and the last was on the mechanisms dark lords had supposedly used to gain power in the British Isles.

Five more books added another hundred and sixty galleons to the total, all the while the oily man seemed happy magical police officers hadn't jumped out of no-where and arrested him.

o0o0o0o

Returning to her room was almost the reverse process to getting to Borgin and Burke's, all the while Athena was thankful she had invested in a magical lightened and enlarged book bag. Even then though, getting all sixteen books in was a tight squeeze; she wasn't going to be able to take all of her collection to Hogwarts – that's if you ignored the fact that some she was probably not allowed to even have at school. Athena passed the rest of Saturday and all of Sunday reading her new books, broken up by another letter to Ginny.

Monday – and another lesson with Mrs Tonks – meant only three days until she boarded the train to Hogwarts.

"So you won't tell me much about Hogwarts because…?" asked Athena.

"Because I can't hold your hand for everything," she replied. "Most children get on fine going to Hogwarts without already having a detailed knowledge of it. You have to learn to discover things for yourself."

Athena couldn't fault it even if she thought she already knew how to discover things herself, so she didn't pursue the topic.

o0o0o0o

"So how is the sale going, Goldhook?"

Athena was at the bank to offload some of the book collection that had been growing in her room at the Leaky Cauldron, but it seemed like a good idea to get an update on how everything with her account had been going, she did after all only have tomorrow as her last day before she got on the train.

"Very well, Ms Potter," he replied from behind his rather ornate desk. "We're slightly ahead of schedule with the sale having managed to sell twenty-seven percent of the value of the objects rather than the twenty-four percent predicted at this point."

Athena nodded at that.

"I'm off to Hogwarts the day after tomorrow," she said. "I was hoping to ask how my accounts will be managed during this time."

"Hmm," mused Goldhook as he considered the options. "We could simply keep in correspondence but that would leave you open to discovery of your relation to the Le-Fay family; letters can be intercepted or simply found after you had received them."

Athena silently agreed with that statement; children could certainly steal them and blab her secrets about.

"We do also sometimes hand deliver letters," he continued. "Though it's not the most discreet of services and it is costly."

"Why don't I just leave it I your able hands?" suggested Athena amicably. "And if something odd happens have someone hand deliver a letter."

"Hmm – very well, I'll make the arrangements."

"Is there anything else to discuss before I disappear for ten months?"

Goldhook considered the question for a few moments; it wouldn't do well to damage a reasonably large account because of some small misplaced detail.

"I do not believe so, Ms Potter," he said.

"Well then, goodbye Goldhook," said Athena as she got up. "I have to go down to my vault."

"Goodbye to you, Ms Potter," he replied. "I think you know the way out to the foyer by now."

Athena nodded before leaving though the door.

Goldhook blinked a few times once the door closed.

"I think I've actually grown fond of that girl," he muttered.

Goldhook wasn't above chatting with the odd interested client, but it seemed one Athena Potter had actually managed to ingrain herself to the point where he didn't mind at all interacting with her. He would need to think about it for a while he thought as he sought out the harsh goblin liquor in his bottom draw.

o0o0o0o

"Got everything?" asked Mrs Tonks the following afternoon as they sat outside _Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour_.

Their final lesson before Hogwarts hadn't really been a lesson more just covering everything they had done over the last month or so. Now Mrs Tonks seemed keen on making sure Athena had everything she needed for her start at Hogwarts.

"Yes," she replied.

"You sure?" she asked. "School books?"

"Yes."

"Robes?"

"Yes."

"Casual clothes?"

"Yes."

"Potions?"

"Yes," she replied with an irritated sigh.

"Bras?"

"Yes," she said with an even more irritated sigh. "I've gone over the list myself several times."

"Never hurts to have a second set of eyes check everything over," replied Mrs Tonks.

Athena just sighed again.

"Should I let Hedwig out or should I take her on the train?" asked Athena.

"Most prefer to be let out rather than be stuck in a cage the whole trip."

Athena nodded in understanding.

"Do you know how you're getting to Nine and Three-quarters?"

"The what?" asked Athena.

"Platform Nine and Three-Quarters," she said again. "The platform the Hogwarts Express leaves from."

"Uh – huh," said Athena in some confusion.

"Didn't you have this explained too you?"

"Uh – no," she replied. "I don't remember being told more than it's a train leaving from King's Cross Station."

This time it was Mrs Tonks turn to sigh.

"How did they miss that important information?" she asked no one. "It's pretty important that they tell you how to get onto the platform seeing as they don't provide written directions."

Mrs Tonks then proceeded to explain how to get onto the platform through the barrier between platforms nine and ten.

"Don't worry too much about having the ticket," she finished. "No one actually checks them."

"You would think they would write all that down," said Athena.

Mrs Tonks gave a shrug.

"You either learn it from your family or learn it from the teacher that introduces you to the magical world and helps you get your school stuff," she explained. "Who took you to get yours? They didn't do a very good job."

"Uh – Hagrid," she replied awkwardly.

Athena believed the giant man was genuine in what he said but he was far from suitable to introduce a student to the magical world.

"Hagrid?" she exclaimed. "What do you mean Hagrid took you?"

"Exactly that," she said. "Hagrid took me to get my school stuff."

Mrs Tonks pinched the ridge of her nose in frustration.

"_Normally_ it's a senior member of staff – generally one of the heads of the school houses – who introduces a student to the magical world," said Mrs Tonks. "Your life is just one headache after another."

"Not much I can do about it," muttered Athena.

"You could take the Night Bus to Kings Cross," said Mrs Tonks as she moved on from the previous topic.

Athena grimaced at the suggestion; her last ride on that bus – if could call it that – had been far from pleasant.

"I think I'll just get a taxi," she suggested instead. "Do you think I need to keep Hedwig's cage if she's going to be flying to Hogwarts?"

The cage would be a pain in the ass to carry after all – especially in a taxi, and she didn't really see the need for it when you have a highly trained bird.

"Probably not," replied Mrs Tonks. "Most people just have the cage until their own accepts them as their owner."

"Good riddance," she replied thankfully.

"Do you want some company to the platform?"

"No, thanks," replied Athena.

o0o0o0o

_Dear Athena,_

_So, last letter before you go to Hogwarts I guess. I guess I'm trying to see the positives: Ron will be out of the house so I won't have to listen to him any more go on in a deluded manner about how he'll be best friends with someone he doesn't even know. Not much else though I figure._

_Hopefully I'll see you at the station._

_Ginny._

Athena frowned as she read the letter; Ginny didn't seem too happy. She knew Ginny hated being stuck at home but there was more than that to this. Thinking she knew why Athena composed her response.

_Dear Ginny,_

_That will hopefully be a positive; but now I have to deal with him at Hogwarts._

_Don't worry though, I promise to send weekly letters; I guess the first will be once I've been sorted – I need someone to tell all about it after all._

_Hope to see you at the station too._

_Athena._

Athena was pretty sure that's where Ginny was coming from; she feared she would be forgotten once Athena was at Hogwarts. That wasn't likely to happen, she had never been good at making friends and Ginny was the first. It would be foolish to throw away a promising friendship so casually.

Athena handed the letter with a smile to the eagerly awaiting snowy owl and let her out the window.

It was nice having a friend.

o0o0o0o

Athena ran her plan through her head the next morning for the third dozen time; the train left at eleven, she thought just to be safe she should arrive half-an-hour early, so she had to arrive at ten-thirty. King's Cross wasn't far but traffic was supposedly quite bad in London so she gave herself half-an-hour for the tax which meant she had to be outside and at the curb for ten.

Currently it was eight and she had already gone out and booked a taxi on one of the – now – rare payphones that occasionally dotted the side of the road. Breakfast was in half an hour and once again Athena checked over everything she had packed away for her long stay at Hogwarts.

Her book bag was full of very carefully selected books – it wouldn't do to have a book worth five-hundred or more pounds confiscated after all, and her school books were in her trunk along with everything else she would need.

Deciding that nervously going over everything in her trunk again and again wasn't helping Athena went down for a slightly early breakfast.

o0o0o0o

The trip to King's Cross only took twenty minutes; probably not bad for London traffic but it was still only a kilometre for every ten minutes of driving. The taxi driver though shot Athena a few odd looks – probably because of her age – but was still kind enough to help her load her trunk onto one of the provided trolleys.

As she made her way to platforms nine and ten she noticed a few people her own age and older who had cages with either owls or cats in them and they were also usually accompanied by adults who dressed in archaic fashions or wore very odd combinations of clothes.

Eventually Athena was in front of the divider between the nine and ten sides of the platform having just previously seen a pair of parents with their two daughters vanish into the wall.

Leaving her trolley to the side she cautiously pushed against the wall with her hand to find it disappear into the wall.

'_That's odd,'_ she thought.

It was one thing to hear Mrs Tonks describe it but it was another thing altogether to see it in person.

"Why do I need to take it at a run?" she muttered before turning around to find another group of people waiting behind her. "Sorry."

Athena moved out of the way to let the group pass – which they did; vanishing into the wall – before grabbing her own trolley and casually – and at walking pace – pushing it against the wall between platforms nine and ten.

Athena's vision went black for a second as she passed through the supposedly solid wall before clearing again to find herself in a cloud of smoke – no steam she corrected herself when she realised it didn't smell like smoke. Through the steam she could make out the huge figure of a scarlet steam train which occasionally would spray out more steam as the pressure relief valves on the boiler gave way.

Moving to a patch that wasn't filled with vision obscuring steam she looked around for any redheads that might indicate Ginny's location which she couldn't find.

Giving a sigh she pushed her trolled down the line of carriages to find one she felt like sitting in before – with great difficultly – pushing her trunk off the trolley und up to the floor of one of the compartments. Up above the seats were racks for the trunks.

"There is no way I can get that up there," she muttered.

Deciding that her trunk might make a good footrest where it was she went to put her trolley away while carrying her enchanted book bag on her shoulder.

o0o0o0o

Athena was thankful for that large clock on the station and her own long hair as she waited near the portal for Ginny. So far Ginny's family had yet to arrive and the station clock was quickly counting down the minutes until the Hogwarts Express left the station. Meanwhile only a few people had seemed to recognise her and no one had actually approached her and asked if she was really 'The-Girl-Who-Lived' like some in Diagon Alley had done; her hair seemed to help cover the instantly recognisable scar.

Just as Athena had decided it was a lost cause with only two minutes until the train departed another group of people – redheads – arrived through the portal onto the station.

The first pair – what looked like twins and who Athena assumed were Fred and George – immediately broke off from the group with a wave to their family and went to speak to a boy with dreadlocks. Another boy with glasses – slightly older than the twins – said some things to his mother and strutted off into the crowd of people on the platform.

Looking at the remaining three Athena could spot Ginny who was being held in place by her mother while she spoke to Ginny's brother, Ron. Ginny who had been looking around the platform for Athena at this point spotted her and gave a small smile. With her mother now distracted cleaning something off her brother's nose with a handkerchief Ginny made her break and approached Athena.

"Hey, Ginny," said Athena a bit more weakly than she had intended.

Ginny didn't respond instead giving the older girl a hung before jumping back with an embarrassed blush.

"Uh – sorry," said Ginny quietly as Athena processed that she'd just been hugged.

Athena knew this wouldn't end well if she didn't act fast. Pushing her own fears away Athena gave the younger girl a hug.

"Don't be," she replied as she let Ginny go.

At this point a whistle was blown indicating the train was about to leave and Mrs Weasley had finally noticed her youngest was missing.

"I promise I'll write," said Athena as she gave the girl a small smile and a wave before racing off to find her compartment.

* * *

><p><strong>I Answer some questions:<strong>

**Ormurinlangi: **Why is 230k 'small for an Ancient or Noble House'? The concept of Ancient and Noble Houses is never explained in canon outside of Sirius mocking the system. The only money the Le-Fay family has is the profits from their now long dead investments. Everything in the investments themselves is gone because the companies collapsed years ago.

**KhazintheDark: **I'm sorry but that is way too cliché for my liking and starts moving Athena into Mary-Sue territory.


	5. Expectations

**I'm rewriting large sections at the moment. Wait out**

* * *

><p><strong>The Venerable House of Le-Fay<strong>

**Chapter Five:**

**Expectations**

The train slowly started to vibrate and then began moving with a groan of metal. The compartment Athena had dumped her stuff in was – thankfully – still empty so she repositioned her trunk, took a seat in the corner between the seat and the side of the train carriage, and raised up her feat all while fishing out her prechosen book out of her book bag.

_How Dark Lords Rose and Fell, and How the Ministry Fails to Act_ was one of the titles picked up in _Borgin and Burke's._ The book was both disturbing and worrying not because it discussed the cruelty and malice of several ruthless dark lords and ladies – including the Lady Le-Fay form the late fourteen hundreds and Lord Voldemort from only a decade ago – but because nearly every single time the Ministry (or its predecessor the Wizards Council) supposedly ignored the problem until it became a difficult bloodbath to counter.

Athena had chosen this as one of her books to take to Hogwarts because – despite being on the 'Prescribed Books List' – it seemed innocuous; some of the other titles she had collected were clearly – just from their titles – books of dangerous magic. It was unlikely anyone would realise it was a book banned from the masses unless they carried a list around with them and even then they wouldn't be able to do much about it due to her status as a member and heiress to an Ancient and Noble House. They wouldn't even be able to confiscate it on grounds of 'dark magic' because it didn't _teach_ any magic.

It was when Athena had just finished chapter four with her nose buried in the book that the door to her compartment opened and Ron Weasley poked his head in through the door.

"Oi, you seen Athena Potter around here? I heard she's supposed to be on the train," he said.

Looking up from her book Athena regretted tucking her hair behind her ears to keep it out of the way while she read as the boy's face lit up in recognition.

"So you're her!" exclaimed Ron after overcoming his gaping mouth. "You've got the scar and everything!"

Athena cringed at that.

'_I'm not a fucking zoo animal,'_ she thought irritably.

"Can I sit here?" he asked. "Everywhere else is full."

Athena just gave an irritated shrug adopting the concept of 'if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all'; it wouldn't do to alienate everyone on her first day by portraying herself as someone who is rude and shuns other company.

Hoping the redheaded boy would be quiet she returned to her book and kept reading. He unfortunately didn't stay quiet for long though.

"Is your scar where You-Know-Who cursed you?" he blurted out quickly.

Athena irritably lowered her book and peered over it at Ron.

"I wouldn't know," she replied.

"So you can't remember it?" he continued to ask.

"No," Athena replied shortly before going back to her book.

It was technically a lie, she did sometimes have strange dreams and memories of a flash of green light, but who in their right mind randomly and nosily asks a stranger questions about the night they were orphaned?

"Why are you reading? Are you a bookworm or something?" asked the boy causing Athena to close her eyes in annoyance. "Reading is so _boring_."

Thinking she might have been too subtle in conveying her lack of interest in speaking to Ron with her clipped answers and general disinterest Athena decided she probably needed to tell the boy up front that she had no interest in speaking to him.

"I'm trying to read," she said clearly and coldly as she dropped the book into her lap. "It _should_ have been clear I wasn't interested in answering your – _quite frankly_ – rude questions. Hasn't anyone ever taught you any manners?"

Athena also thought it was rather rude to try and strike up a conversation with someone who was trying to read but she didn't feel the need to go into details.

At his chastisement Ron blushed an angry red, crossed his arms and made an 'hmph' sound which Athena just ignored before going back to her book.

As she read in silence Athena momentarily considered if she was being too harsh on Ron – his sister having clouded her opinion of him – before deciding the questions he had asked and his continued asking of questions while she tried to read were rude regardless of what she already knew of the boy.

o0o0o0o

The chastisement having worked, Ron didn't speak again; just sitting grumpily on the seat with nothing to do. Athena had hoped he would get bored enough to move on but he was still there.

'_He's persistent, I'll give him that,_' she thought.

As midday passed the silence was broken by the voice of an old lady.

"Anything from the cart, dears?" she asked as Athena looked up and spotted the cart she had presumably been pushing.

Athena's experiences with magical sweets had been interesting so far. Her first venture into one of Diagon Alley's sweet stores had found her purchasing a few sweets that weren't all that magical – though they were obviously still tasty. It wasn't until Mrs Tonks had got her a few Chocolate Frogs and a bag of Berty-Bott's Every Flavour Beans – insisting it was almost like a rite of passage – that she saw her first truly magical sweets.

Deciding she didn't want sweets she had to pay much attention too while reading – lest she eat something unpleasant, or chocolate that might ruin her book Athena skipped over those two items and grabbed a few other things from the trolley.

Taking he seat again as the lady left and picking up her book Athena noticed that Ron was staring rather longingly at her assortment of magical bubble gum and Cauldron Cakes. With a sigh Athena threw one of the Cauldron Cakes onto the empty seat next to Ron.

"You can have it."

Ron looked at the Cauldron Cake for a few seconds before blurting out.

"I don't need your charity!"

Athena rolled her eyes and shrugged leaving the Cauldron Cake on the seat as she returned to her book.

o0o0o0o

It wasn't long again before there was another interruption coming from the door. Looking up Athena briefly noted the offered Cauldron Cake was not-so-suspiciously missing.

"Sorry," said a round faced boy as he opened the door. "Have you seen a toad anywhere? He's missing."

Athena and Ron shook their heads.

"He keeps getting away from me!" said the distraught boy.

"You'll find it eventually; there isn't many places he could be on a train," said Athena before adding silently. '_Unless it jumped off the train.'_

"Yes," said the boy miserably. "Well if you see him…"

With that the boy left closing the boy behind him.

"If I had a toad I'd lose it quick-smart," commented Ron. "Mind you I brought Scabbers, so I can't really talk."

Athena didn't want to indulge Ron with a conversation still hoping he might leave but she was curious what Scabbers – or a 'Scabbers' – was. However, with any prompting Ron pulled a large rat out of his pocket.

Athena hid a smirk at the thought of Aunt Petunia finding that in her house.

At this moment there was another interruption at the door.

"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost his," said a girl with bushy hair as she stood in the doorway.

"We already told him we haven't seen it," said Ron irritably as he answered the girl's question.

"Oh, what are you reading there?" she asked as she spotted the book in Athena's hands and ignored Ron.

Athena held up the book so the girl could read the cover.

"That book sounds a bit like _The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts_ that I picked up in Diagon Alley," said the bushy haired girl.

Athena remembered the title when she had last been in Diagon Alley; she hadn't purchased it but had skimmed through it before deciding not to buy it just then. The fact that it was freely sold in _Flourish and Blott's_ and _How Dark Lords Rose and Fell, and How the Ministry Fails to Act _was not said something about how critical and though provoking each book probably was.

"I had a look at that book in _Flourish and Blott's_ and I suspect it's somewhat similar," said Athena.

"So you enjoy reading?" asked the girl. The girl seemed somewhat giddy at the question.

"Uh – yea," replied Athena awkwardly. "I do."

"Have you tried any of the spells in your books?" asked the girl.

"Yea, a couple," replied Athena modestly. "I couldn't get the unlocking charm to work though; not sure why."

"Really?" she asked. "I didn't have any trouble with that one."

"Yea – well, I didn't have any trouble with any of the others," she replied before counting off on her fingers. "I had no trouble with _Lumos_, _Reparo_, _Incendio_ and a couple others."

Feeling a bit left out, Ron butted in.

"My brothers taught me this spell to turn a rat yellow," he said.

"Oh – really?" asked the girl. "Can I see?"

Ron nodded as he repositioned Scabbers on his lap before chanting as he waved his wand over the rat in a circle.

"_Sunshine, Daisies, Butter Mellow, turn this stupid fat rat yellow!"_

Ron finished the chant by jabbing his wand at the rat who remained his usual brown colour. Athena – knowing there was no way she could hold it in – gave a loud snort at the spell Ginny had mocked Ron about during the summer.

"Are you _sure_ that is a real spell?" asked the girl with a disappointed frown, Ron somehow having missed the snort. "Well it's obviously not a very good one, is it?"

"Damn right," muttered Athena quietly.

"Well,_ I_ tried a few spells myself and had no issues. Nobody in my family is magical, you see? It was ever quite the surprise to receive my letter. Of course, Hogwarts is supposed to be the best school of magic there is. I do hope learning all of my books by heart is enough though, I just hope it will be enough. I'm Hermione Granger by the way – what are your names?"

The girl – Hermione – said everything very fast, and Athena wondered if she had an eidetic memory if she could remember all of her book off by heart.

"Ron Weasley."

Biting the bullet – she had remained mostly anonymous so far after all – Athena replied.

"Athena Potter."

"Are you really?" asked Hermione with surprise. "I've read all about you – I bought a few extra books for background reading you see, and you're in _Modern Magical History_ and _The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts_ and _Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century_."

Athena gave the girl a nod. She had herself only read _Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century_ and she hadn't reached the chapters that covered Voldemort in the book in her lap just yet.

"I've only read _Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century _and I have to say the section about me is most likely conjecture," said Athena. "There were only four people in that house that night; two are dead, one also most likely is – and I doubt the author interviewed Voldemort –"

Ron Weasley gasped.

"You – you said _his_ name!" he said loudly in a panicked voice.

Remembering Hagrid's unease at the name Athena just moved on.

"And I was only fifteen months old at the time so I don't remember anything – on top of that I've never been interviewed."

Hermione gave a thoughtful look at that as she bit her lip.

"Still – It might be conjecture but it's probably the best we have," said Athena amicably.

"Still…" she replied before her face lit up with another question. "Do you know what house you're going to be in? I'm thinking Gryffindor myself – it was Headmaster Dumbledore's House, though Ravenclaw won't be too bad – I guess. Anyway, I have to keep looking for Neville's toad – you might want to get dressed, we'll probably be at Hogwarts soon."

Without waiting for a response Hermione turned around and closed the door behind her.

"Whatever house I'm in I hope she's not," said Ron as the door clicked shut. "Mental, that one is."

'_And I hope I'm not in yours.'_

With that Ron threw his wand into his trunk and put the sleeping Scabbers back into his pocket.

'_You would think you'd take more care with your wand considering how much they cost to replace and how important they are,_' thought Athena as she eyed the wand abandoned in the trunk.

Ron looked itching to continue to talk but stopped himself when he remembered what happened last time. So Athena when back to her book and managed to read a couple more pages before another interruption from the door broke the silence.

"Are you Athena Potter?" asked a blond boy flanked by two burly and somewhat unintelligent looking boys. It almost reminded Athena of a mobster flanked by bodyguards. "She's supposed to be on the train and I just heard she was in this compartment."

"I am," she replied.

"Oh – well this is Crabb and Goyle," he said indicating to the two bodyguards. "And I'm Draco Malfoy."

"Athena Potter," she replied holding out her hand; however Draco was distracted by a snigger from Ron Weasley and didn't notice it.

"Think my name's funny, do you?" asked Draco with a glare. "No need to ask who you are Weasley; red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford."

Athena felt a twinge of anger that Draco had insulted Ginny with that remark but ignored it because she wasn't here and Draco didn't – or more correctly no one knew – she was friends with Ginny. Meanwhile Ron was quickly turning red at the remark.

"No need to ask anything about you, Malfoy!" said Ron angrily. "Everyone knows your family is dark and that you all followed You-Know-Who."

Malfoy actually smirked at Ron's comment making Athena think it was either true or that he found the whole accusation funny.

"And everyone knows your family – the whole lot of them – are blood traitors," replied Malfoy.

'_Or just true_,' thought Athena.

Turning back to Athena, Malfoy offered his hand out. Athena was actually surprised by this getting the impression that because the magical world seems antiquated this might been seen as too forward asking a _girl_ to shake your hand; whereas she offering her hand would be acceptable.

"You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there," he said as Athena shook his hand.

"Thank you for the offer," she replied politely causing Ron to start sputtering in anger. "But I think I'll try work it out myself for now. Maybe if I need some help though…"

Athena let the sentence ambiguously hang, technically giving the boy no commitment either way. However at this point Ron stood up and started shouting angrily.

"Get out of here Malfoy; you're not welcome here!" he shouted. "No one wants to listen to a no-good Deatheater like you!"

Malfoy actually laughed.

"Make me."

Deciding to do just that pulled his arm back in a punch as one of Malfoy's bodyguards – Athena still wasn't sure which was which – stood in front of him. The large boy just stood there and took the rather soft punch before pushing Ron into his seat by hitting him in the centre of his chest with a flabby palm.

"I have to ask Potter; what are you doing in a compartment with riffraff like this?" asked Malfoy as Ron struggled against the bodyguard holding him in his seat.

"I was in this compartment first," shrugged Athena. "He came in later."

"Heh," said Malfoy in amusement before turning to Ron with a sneer. "So what are we going to with you?"

"I think he's got some lollies," grunted the bodyguard who wasn't holding Ron down as he pointed at a wrapper discarded on the seat next to Ron.

"Maybe he does, Crabbe," said Malfoy as his mouth turned back to a smirk.

Athena didn't particularly want to step in here; she didn't like bullies – and Malfoy gave off the air of a serious bully already – but Ron _had_ been annoying all day and he _had_ insulted Malfoy, regardless of whether the statement was true.

'_Maybe they'll finish each other off?' _she thought wistful optimism; though it was unlikely thee to one.

However, at that thought – just as Goyle stuffed his hand in Ron's pocket looking for food – there was a scream; a scream coming from Goyle who had withdrawn his hand and started swinging it around wildly with something attached to one of his fingers.

Quickly the object detached itself from Goyle's finger; flying before smacking the window of the carriage with a thump before landing of the floor. Not knowing what had happened Goyle – followed by Malfoy and Crabbe – fled the compartment at full speed.

"I think he's been knocked out," said Ron as he picked up a hairy object that Athena realised was Scabbers. "Or maybe he's gone back to sleep?"

Ron dumped the rat back into his pocket.

"Talk about unwanted," said Ron; having somehow missed the bit where she didn't bother to help him and then actually insulted him. "You have to watch out for people like that, Athena. They'll probably curse you in the back or try to control you with dark magic!"

"Have you been fighting?" interrupted a familiar female voice from the door that had been left open by Malfoy and Co. "I heard shouting and then a few boys were running down the train. You have, haven't you? You'll get in trouble before you've even gotten off the train!"

"It's not like it's any of your business!" said Ron as he returned to anger while Athena rolled her eyes.

"There is no need to be rude," chastised Athena impatiently; getting fed up with Ron more quickly by the minute. "She just asked you a question!"

Hermione mumbled something about them arriving at Hogwarts soon before walking off, head down.

"Get out while I change, Ron," said Athena shortly as she started to open her trunk.

It took a few seconds for Ron to comprehend those words before he trooped out and closed the door behind upon which Athena closed the blinds and put on her robes. She then walked out with her book bag on her shoulder just as the unnoticed PA system sprung to life.

"We shall be arriving at Hogsmead Station in two minutes," it said in a cool and neutral female voice. "Please leave your luggage and pets inside the train; they will be taken up to the school separately."

As the train began to slow Ron opened the compartment door again so Athena chose to stand near the window and try to make out Hogsmead in the dark of the night.

o0o0o0o

Athena felt a little bit chilly in the cool night air as she thought – in hindsight – that it might have been better to just throw her robes over her casual clothes for extra warmth. At the other end of the platform she could make out a bobbing lap before a voice she recognised called out.

"Firs' years!" called the giant form of Hagrid. "Firs' years over 'ear!"

Walking up the platform Hagrid eventually spotted Athena.

"You alright, Athena?" he asked.

Athena didn't hold any ill-will against the giant man. He was – according to everyone else – just a bumbling buffoon; but a kind and gentle buffoon. She wasn't going to hold the kind man any ill-will because he was easy to manipulate.

Deciding she wouldn't be able to match Hagrid's voice and shout over the large gaggle of students, Athena just gave Hagrid a small smile.

"An'eh other firs' years?" he shouted. "Firs' years need ter move ov'eh 'ear!"

Satisfied there weren't any more first years to come Hagrid continued to speak.

"C'mon – this way," he said as he started to lead the first years off the platform. "Watch yer step; it's might'eh dark on the path."

Quickly – though Athena wasn't exactly sure when it happened because of the darkness – trees sprung up on either side of the path as it gained steepness. Athena wasn't sure where they were going and had no idea if this as the path she and Mrs Tonks had walked during their visit to Hogsmead.

Through the gap in the trees that made up the path, Athena could see what looked like the crest of the hill they were climbing.

"An'eh second now you'll get yet firs' look at Hogwarts," said Hagrid as they got closer to the crest.

As the small group of people in front of her – between her and Hagrid – made their way to the top they let out a number of 'ohhh!' and 'ahh!' sounds before it was her turn.

Athena couldn't describe the sight; Mrs Tonks had been right in saying it was amazing but she doubted their view of Hogwarts all those weeks ago compared to the view of Hogwarts lit up at night. Across the lake Athena could see the reflection of the castle with its many turrets and illuminated windows.

"Wond'eh'ful," said Hagrid with a smile illuminated by his lantern before pointing down at the edge of the lake. "Alright – no more'n four ter a boat!"

A number of people raced to the boat – possibly so they didn't have to ask anyone if that spot was taken and soon Athena found herself taking a seat in a boat with Neville – the round faced boy she had met earlier, Hermione and some unidentified girl with mousy brown hair.

"Oi, that seat was for me!" exclaimed the voice on Ron Weasley behind Athena.

Turning to look at him, Athena saw that he was pointing at Neville who was on the seat next to Athena.

"Oh – uh – I'm sorry," said Neville as he nervously tried to get out of the boat before being stopped by Athena with a hand on his shoulder.

"What makes you think that, Ron?" she asked coldly.

"W-w-well we shared a compartment together!" he blustered.

"I don't see the connection," she replied dismissively to which Athena could swear she could hear Malfoy sniggering a few boats over. "Find another place to sit, Ron."

"Wow, Weasley. How can you be so thick?" called the voice of Malfoy to some laughs. "It's pretty obvious she doesn't want to be associated with the likes of you."

Sensing a possible squabble Hagrid called out.

"Ay, you lot – hurr'eh up and get in th'eh boats! We can't move until yer all seated."

Scowling Ron walked off and took a seat in a boat with three girls who seemed to be very unhappy with the arrangement.

"Right then – Forward!" called Hagrid once Ron had seated himself.

Athena thought the lake was remarkably smooth as the fleet of boats glided across the lake before they reached the bottom of a cliff with Hogwarts castle towering overhead. They then passed through a curtain of vines before finding themselves in a natural cave that eventually turned into a well-crafted stone tunnel before the appearance of a harbour.

"This toad belong ter anyone?" asked Hagrid who was inspecting the boats after everyone had disembarked and huddled around in small groups on the harbour.

"Trevor!" called out Neville happily as he took his toad from Hagrid.

_'It's either a very smart toad or someone stole him,'_ thought Athena as Hagrid lead everyone up several flights of stairs and into the castle proper.

o0o0o0o

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid after the door he had just knocked on opened.

"Thank you, Mr Hagrid," responded a middle aged woman in green robes as she stepped through the door. "I will take them from here."

Professor McGonagall was a sharp eyed woman who wore her slightly greying hair in a tight bun. She was the sort of person who gave off an aura that flatly stated '_do not cross me'_ quite clearly.

Hagrid left the room as Professor McGonagall directed the new first years to follow her; leading the students across what looked like a magnificent entrance hall, past a large door from which the rumbling of many voices could be heard and through another much smaller door past it. With the hundred or so new first years the room didn't leave much room to gallivant around.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall as any talking in the room quickly dropped off. "I am Professor McGonagall – Deputy Headmistress and Head of Gryffindor House. The start of term feast will begin shortly; however before it can begin you all must be sorted into your houses before you can take your seats. In your time at Hogwarts these houses will be your family away from home; you will eat together, share the same dormitories and common areas, and have some of your classes together.

"The four Houses are Gryffindor – known for bravery, daring and chivalry, Ravenclaw – known for their wit, wisdom and a drive to learn, Hufflepuff – known for their loyalty, fair play and a belief in hard work, and Slytherin – known for their cunning, resourcefulness and ambition. Each House had their own noble history of producing outstanding witches and wizards.

"While you are at Hogwarts your triumphs will earn you house points and – conversely – any rule breaking will lead to a loss of points. At the end of the year the House with the most points is awarded the House Cup; a great honour. I expect each and every one of you will do your house proud."

Professor McGonagall paused as she looked carefully around the room.

"The sorting ceremony will take place in a few moments in front of the rest of the school," she continued. "I suggest you smart yourselves up in the meantime."

As she said that Professor McGonagall's eyes lingered on a few students which she felt should take heed such as Ron Weasley who had a noticeable mark on his nose and Neville whose robes were twisted around him in an odd and somewhat unexplainable way.

Athena nervously brushed her hair with her fingers; it was always messy – because she had never had a brush for it, but she felt it suited her. Brushing it with her fingers was just a nervous habit really, and it sorted out any major problems with her hair.

"I shall return when we are ready for you," continued the Professor once everyone with a major problem had begun to attend to them. "Please wait quietly."

With that the professor opened another door causing the volume level in the small room to increase significantly before dropping instantly with a snap of the old fashioned latch on the door.

After a few moments of silence some unknown person in the room asked how they were sorted.

"Well I asked my brother – Fred – and he said it was a test," replied Ron loudly before adding in a more worried voice. "He said it hurts though – but I think he was joking."

Athena had asked Mrs Tonks how the sorting was done but all she Mrs Tonks would tell her was that it was a simple test; she refused to say how exactly it was done. Meanwhile, Hermione who was standing nearby was muttering things under her breath about all the things she had already read in books and if they would help her in ever increasing panic.

Athena – suppressing her own nervousness – simply concentrated on the door and waited for Professor McGonagall to return. However, her concentration was soon interrupted by several screams from the other end of the room.

"Forgive and forget I say –" said the voice of a pale, floating and transparent man as he glided above the heads of the students.

"But haven't we already given him enough chances, my dear Friar? And he's not even a ghost!" said another floating man wearing a ruff around his neck before stopping what he was about to say as he noticed all of the students congregated in the room. "It say – what are you all doing in here?"

Nobody replied to the…

'_Ghosts?'_ Athena asked herself dryly. '_I guess I shouldn't be surprised.'_

"My! New students!" exclaimed the ghost who had been called Friar. "About to be sorted, I suppose? It's wonderful to see all the new faces! I hope you get sorted into my old house – Hufflepuff that is."

"Move along, now," said a voice behind Athena.

Turning around she found Professor McGonagall standing in the now open doorway and around her sides Athena could see several students and the ends of several tables.

"Please form a line," continued the Professor. "The sorting is about to begin."

Once everyone had sorted themselves into a rough line Athena found Ron had somehow managed to get himself a spot next to her causing her to give a small irritated sigh before they were all led out into the Great Hall and stood to the side of the hall but still in plain view of everyone.

Athena looked around the Great Hall; a very large and cavernous room lit by hundreds of floating candles that for some reason didn't drop wax on anyone – probably because they were enchanted that way. The ceiling of the Great hall was enchanted and looked like – in some ways – a giant TV screen as she could see stars and some faint wisps of cloud lit by a quarter moon as they passed above.

At this point Athena was distracted by the movement of Professor McGonagall as she carried a small three legged stool and a very aged looking hat to a position in front of the raised staff table before placing the hat on the stool and taking a place at the side of the hall near the new first years.

Athena noticed everyone in the hall was staring intently at the hat, expecting it to do something; so she did too not wanting to miss something that seemed rather important to a large majority of the school.

Suddenly, the hat made a small movement as a large hole opened up on it before it began to sing.

The hat sang first about itself – the 'Sorting Hat' – before it began to describe each of the houses in a bit more detail than Professor McGonagall did and then finally finishing by telling everyone listening that it simply sorted a person once you put it – '_maybe a him?_' thought Athena from the masculine voice – on your head.

As the Sorting hat finished his song all of the students who weren't first years and the teachers began to clap and give applause followed by the first years and Athena once they realised they were supposed to.

"Bloody Fred, I'll kill him," said Ron into Athena's ear as if she cared about his idiocy. "He said we had to fight a troll."

'_Yea, that sounds just like the Ron that Ginny described,' _she thought as she ignored the boy and rolled her eyes.

Taking a place near the stool that the hat was perched on, Professor McGonagall procured a scroll of parchment from a pocked in her green robes and unrolled it.

"When I call your name, you will take a seat and place the hat on your head," she said indicating to the stool. "When your House has been called please move quickly to your new table – we have many names to get through before dinner."

The Professor looked down at her list before calling the first name.

"Abbott, Hannah!"

The girl Athena remembered was the only unknown name in the boat they had shared.

"Hufflepuff!" called the Sorting Hat to an eruption of cheers from the table where the students had yellow trimming on their robes.

The next girl also went into Hufflepuff as Athena began to tune it out in an attempt to distract herself from the nervousness of the whole ordeal. She briefly went back to considering what House she was probably going to get sorted into – something she had been doing frequently since coming across the section on Houses in _Hogwarts, A History_ several weeks earlier – but changed her mind when she realised it did work as an effective distractant.

However, several minutes later Athena was broken out of her distraction by the call of a name that was familiar to her.

"Granger, Hermione!" called Professor McGonagall before Hermione eagerly walked – or maybe ran – up to the chair, jumped on it and placed the hat on her head quickly. A few seconds passed before the hat called.

"Gryffindor!"

Ron groaned beside her, causing Athena to smirk internally as she remembered what Ginny had said about Weasleys and Gryffindor.

Several minutes later, Athena was once again brought out of self-distracting by a familiar name.

"Longbottom, Neville!"

Athena thought for a few moments that _Longbottom_ was a rather unfortunate name; though on second thought she realised it was also an old name. Back in the day – when they came up with the concept of family names – it was common to take the name of your profession – like the names _Smith, Taylor _or _Abbott_ – or to use a description of where you lived. In this case Neville's ancestors probably lived at the bottom of a hill or at the bottom of a valley – though the _Long_ part suggest it might have been a long valley.

"Gryffindor!" brought Athena back to reality.

"Malfoy, Draco!" called the Professor after several more students were sorted.

Malfoy swaggered up to the stool, took a seat and placed the hat on his head. It seemed – to Athena – that the moment the hat touched his head it had made its decision by calling out 'Slytherin!'. Athena at the moment realised the sorting hat seemed to take different lengths of time for each person.

'_Maybe some people are more complex to sort than others?'_ she thought, wondering what that meant for someone as messed up as herself.

Several more people were sorted – including a set of identical twins who ended up in different Houses – before the name she dreaded was called.

"Potter, Athena!"

Immediately mutterings and whispering broke out amongst the student body and the unsorted first years. Many – which is to say _most _– looked up and down the line of first years for their _illustrious _saviour. Giving a sigh Athena stepped out of line; noticing that the man in the towering Headmasters chair – a man with half-moon spectacles and a long white beard – was gazing carefully at her. Ignoring the man Athena did her best 'confident walk' as she approached the stool and placed the sorting hat on her head.

"_Hmm," _hummed a voice in her ear. "_Very interesting – you are right in thinking you will be difficult to sort."_

The hat didn't say anything else for a few seconds but Athena could swear she could 'feel' the hat thinking.

"_You could easily go anywhere in Hogwarts," _said the Hat as he broke the silence. "_I see loyalty in you, though it's never really had a chance to shine – but you don't quite have the temperament of a Badger. I see courage too, another thing that has never really had a chance so far – but I think you are too much of a pragmatist for _chivalrous _Gryffindor. Ravenclaw would suit you well – you need only ask with a mind like yours…"_

While Athena thought Ravenclaw was a good second choice, it wasn't her first.

_"I will take that as a 'no' then – I see you will be defying expectations,"_ said the Hat with what felt like a mental smirk._ "Then, the best I think for you is…"_

"Slytherin!" called the Sorting Hat out loud.

o0o0o0o

What followed the Sorting Hat's call was probably the most unusual round of clapping for a sorting in Hogwarts history.

With the call, a good half of Gryffindors began to enthusiastically clap; before very, _very _quickly stopping and adopting a similar shocked expression to their fellows who had not. The Hufflepuffs – who clapped for everyone as a common courtesy – stopped their polite clapping not soon after in similar shock. The small smattering of Ravenclaws who had clapped were the last to stop – the Slytherins only then beginning to realise what had been called by the Sorting Hat.

Silence was louder than the clapping and yelling of a House welcoming a new member.

'_Expectations,_' thought Athena as she pulled the Sorting Hat off her head and adopted the impassive face well taught in the Dursley household. Deciding to get it over with Athena got off the stool and made her way to the free space at the end of the Slytherin Table, book bag handing off her shoulder. It was only a she was halfway with every eye on her that the first few claps began to start up and down table Slytherin.

It wasn't a clap of jubilation like the Gryffindors had been planning to give to her upon entry into their House; rather it was _difficult _to place – Athena wasn't sure what it was. Respect, maybe? Maybe even an applause for defying all _expectation_?

"Knew you'd do the right thing and go into noble Slytherin," said the smug voice of Malfoy who was only a few seats down.

Athena doubted it; she was pretty sure he was one of the last Slytherins – now her fellow housemates she reminded herself – to notice she hadn't been sorted into Gryffindor so she rather than argue it simply gave him a non-committal nod.

Now in her seat Athena gazed around at the damage. Professor McGonagall looked slightly paler as she read the next name on the scroll, while Ron Weasley simply stood mouth agape in shock. Athena looked down the Gryffindors and found Hermione who had a curious expression on her face while Neville was looking nervously around – though Athena didn't think the nervousness had anything to do with her sorting.

It was then that Athena had the strange feeling you get when someone is staring at you, looking around she found that there were several people staring at her; Headmaster Dumbledore, the DADA Professor – _Quirrel_ Athena reminded herself, and a pale looking man with a hook nose and black, limpy, greasy hair who seemed to be stuck with an expression between disbelief and displeasure.

Wanting to know who the greasy haired man was, Athena simply asked.

"Who's that greasy haired man at the staff table?" she asked bluntly and to no one in particular.

A regal looking girl with fair skin, straight black hair and a sort of cold grace answered.

"That is our Head of House, Potter," she said. "Professor Severus Snape."

At that moment she turned to look at the Professor and frowned ever so slightly.

"I don't know why he's staring though," she added.

Athena too turned back to Professor Snape to find – Indeed – he was still staring at her before she suddenly felt a stab of pain on her forehead causing her to give a sharp intake of breath causing the girl who had answered her to turn around.

"Is something the matter, Potter?" she asked.

"No," she replied as she blinked a few times in surprise; the pain having fade to non-existence rapidly.

The girl gave a small quirk of an eyebrow; she didn't believe that for a second but chose to ignore it for now.

"I don't believe I've introduced myself," she said, lifting her hand of the table, looking at it and then putting it back down when she realised Athena was too far away for her to offer her hand. "Daphne Greengrass."

"Athena Potter," replied Athena with a small smile.

"I believe everyone knows who you are," said Daphne back.

"But that's what you're supposed to do once someone has introduced themselves to you," replied Athena with a small shrug.

Daphne's lips twitched slightly but she quickly returned to her impassive face as Professor McGonagall called out another name.

"Weasley, Ronald!" she called.

Like Malfoy, the hat had barely connected with Ronald's head before calling out a name.

"Gryffindor!"

Athena then realised that she had automatically slipped into calling Ron 'Ronald' upon discovery of his actual name.

Blaise Zabini – a Mediterranean looking boy with black hair – was sorted last going into Slytherin to which Athena politely clapped before the noise died down and the headmaster took a stand.

"Welcome!" he said as he gazed around the hall, his eyes lingering on Athena as they passed. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts – or just welcome to Hogwarts for our new first years. Before we eat our magnificent banquet I have a few things to say, and here they are; Nitwit, Blubber, Oddment, Tweak!"

The Headmaster took a seat to a few odd laughs.

"Fucking nutter," muttered on older boy half a dozen seats down which gained a few agreements from some other Slytherins.

A creak of wood was heard and everyone who was familiar with the sound looked down at the table expectantly to find there were piles of food of all sorts – well, all sorts of food you would find traditionally in Britain – piled up on silver and gold tableware.

Athena started piling all sorts of things onto her plate including things she had never had but suspected were things like black pudding, haggis and blood sausage – things the Dursleys didn't eat. Athena momentarily considered what they were made from before deciding she might as well try them and she had much worse doing her best not to starve under the Dursley's care.

All the while Professor Dumbledore was still staring at her with a curious expression on his face as he slowly took bites at his meal.

During the meal a ghost covered in chains and silver blood floated down to the table and took the spare spot on the far side of Malfoy. The ghost didn't say anything, he just sat there while Malfoy would give the ghost the occasional sideways glance with an ugly expression on his face.

Getting the attention of one of the older students nearby Athena indicated with her head towards the scene.

"That's the Bloody Baron," explained the girl quietly. "He rarely speaks."

Athena gave a nod and returned to her food.

o0o0o0o

Having finished her food Athena remembered she needed to take her potions before gazing around and observing her new housemates.

Daphne was talking quietly with a girl who had reddish-brown wavy hair sitting next to her, Malfoy was finally relaxing and eating his meal in peace as the Bloody Baron had moved on, his bodyguards were on the opposite side of the table talking in low voice – '_or maybe grunts?_' thought Athena, and Blaise Zabini was chatting with a another boy with brown hair and an air of boredom around him.

"So, Potter," said the aforementioned boy, looking like he was tired of his conversation with Zabini. "How come the Girl-Who-Lived ended up with us Snakes?"

Everyone around them hushed as they listened in to the conversation.

"Not that we don't want you here," he added. "But it is rather unexpected."

Athena looked around at their part of the table; everyone was listening in. Giving a small sigh she answered.

"Everyone expected me to be a Gryffindor," she started to which everyone nodded. "Because they see me as some sort of hero – like a Gryffindor should be – yet they all seem to forget I was only _a baby_ at the time; as if what I did was some sort of heroic effort on my part."

There were a few more nods and murmurs.

"It wasn't," she continued. "Whatever I did that killed Voldemort was purely accidental on my part and I don't even remember it."

To her surprise very few at the table shuddered or yelped at Voldemort's name. Instead a few students simply looked at her in surprise.

"Makes sense I guess," said the boy who had originally asked the question thoughtfully as he scratched his chin. "You _were_ just a baby when you killed the Dark Lord."

"We still expected Potter to be raised to be a Gryffindor though, Theodore," chimed in Daphne.

"Why's that?" asked Athena in genuine curiosity.

"Well apparently Dumbledore was involved in raising you," she answered. "That is what they say anyway."

"Right," she replied in obvious scepticism. "I've never met the guy. In fact, today was the first time I ever saw him."

"So who did raise you?" one of the older boys asked.

"You don't need to know," replied Athena with a shrug after a short pause.

Sensing they wouldn't get any more answers each of the little 'groups' at the table started to discuss the revelations amongst themselves before Dumbledore interrupted again. Athena decided to think on it later.

"Just a few start of term notices now we are all well fed and watered," said Dumbledore as he stood up. "First years – _and_ some of our older students – should be aware that the Forbidden Forest on the school grounds is exactly that; forbidden.

"I have been asked by our caretaker – Mr Filch – that no magic should be performed in the corridors between classrooms.

"If you are a second year or above and interested in playing Quidditch on your House team please give you name to your team captain as soon as possible because tryouts will be held on the weekend a week from today.

"And finally, the third floor corridor on the right hand side of the castle is out of bounds to anyone who does not wish to die a most painful death."

Athena looked around on cue expecting maybe a few laughs which never came.

"He can't be serious?" she asked to no one in particular.

The boy who called Dumbledore a 'fucking nutter' chimed in.

"I wouldn't put it past him, Potter," he said. "I'm right when I say the man is losing his marbles."

"Dad's been saying it for years," Theodore added. "Though he's not sure the man ever had any to begin with."

"My father thinks he's just a blood traitor through and through," said Malfoy pompously.

While they were having this discussion they missed Dumbledore calling for the school song only realising it at the sound of a whole mix-ups of tunes and tones.

"As I said, Potter," said the boy who doubted Dumbledore's sanity as he jerked his thumb at the Headmaster jovially leading the school in song. "Fucking – Nutter."

As Athena followed the green trimmed prefect out of the Great Hall following the song, she looked back and saw Dumbledore had sat back down; going back to staring at her intently and in a calculating manner.

It was then that she realised it was probably all just a ploy to make people underestimate the old wizard.

* * *

><p><strong>Please favourite, follow and review. Please leave constructive reviews as well.<strong>

**AN-1: Went thought it after a good night's sleep and found quite a few spelling errors. I fixed them**

**AN-2: Cut the end of the chapter off and put it in the next chapter, it's now about the right length.**

* * *

><p><strong>Extended Experience - <strong>No, I already have chosen a familiar for Athena (or maybe she doesn't have one and I'm lying) and if I needed suggestions I wouldn't accept a salamander as an option.


	6. Authors Note

Sorry this isn't an update.

If any of you have read the story recently you'd have seen I added a note to the top of each page saying I'm rewriting the fic.

I'm doing this for a few reasons. Firstly I introduced a few predictable clichés; they will be going. Secondly is the first chapter opens the story poorly; quite a few people open the fic and only partway into the first chapter think this is a predictable 'helpful goblins' fic, or a fic where Harry takes the Wizengamot by storm with his amazing political cunning; out manoeuvring Dumbledore and other experienced politicians. Thirdly it reads like I'm writing a 'superior Lords and Ladies' fic where being noble give you special powers (magical or otherwise) which completely subverts the point of Harry Potter.

I know, as the author, that the last two aren't the case but most readers don't. It took me quite a while to figure out what I thought was wrong.

I'm not sure how long it will take to rewrite this. I'm writing a prologue that I've had to split into two because it was so long and seeing how it opens the story I'm being rather picky with it. On top of that I'm been in a bit of a writing trough and have had trouble writing anything recently - I was supposed to enter NaNoWriMo for example but I've only written 2k words and I haven't done any more than a few lines for the next chapter of _The Goal of Masters _-_-

Sorry guys, but It will be done when it's done.


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